Vinyl will cope with any minor changes in height between floorboards better than any wood- or cementitious tile backer board.
New vinyl will look good,
and,
if buyer does not like it, well they can change it.
Seems better than buyer cursing you for creaky tiles.
True, it's just to refresh really. Easy to get carried away with ideas of tiles but it sounds like it'll be beyond my skill and a sensible budget at the moment. So hardboard / MDF ok for vinyl backing presumably?
ahh crap, good point. It's for a renovation for to sell, so budget is pretty tight. I'm tempted to go back down the vinyl route.
Edit, would OSB not have the same problem?