UK cost guide · September 2026

How much does a new bathroom cost in 2026?

A mid-range bathroom refit in the same layout costs £6,000 to £9,000 including VAT in an average UK area outside London, and about £7,300 to £10,900 in London. A new en-suite costs £7,000 to £10,500, a wet room made from an existing bathroom £7,500 to £11,000 and a downstairs toilet £2,800 to £4,000. A new downstairs wet room where there is no bathroom now costs £10,000 to £15,500. Premium bathrooms with high-end tiles and fittings cost £11,000 or more.

By Estiquote · Prices reviewed 25 September 2026, next review December 2026 · How we calculate · Updated 10 November 2026

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Already have a bathroom fitter’s price? Check where your quote sits against this range. Still deciding what to do first? Read where to start a home renovation.

Bathroom prices in 2026

Ranges are for a typical home outside London, including VAT, before fees and contingency. Use the calculator for your region and finish.

Bathroom costs by type and finish, UK average outside London, including VAT (September 2026)
Type	Basic	Mid-range	Premium
Full bathroom refit, same layout	£4,000 to £5,500	£6,000 to £9,000	£11,000 to £16,000
New en-suite	£5,500 to £7,500	£7,000 to £10,500	£11,500 to £16,500
Wet room	£5,000 to £7,000	£7,500 to £11,000	£12,500 to £18,000
Downstairs toilet	£2,000 to £2,800	£2,800 to £4,000	£4,000 to £6,000
New downstairs wet room (no bathroom now)	£7,500 to £11,500	£10,000 to £15,500	£15,000 to £22,500

Bathroom costs by region

Labour costs vary across the UK far more than materials. Bathroom prices in London run about 21% above the UK average outside London, and in Northern Ireland about 11% below it.

Bathroom costs by region: Full bathroom refit, same layout, including VAT
Region	Mid-range cost
UK average (outside London)	£6,000 to £9,000
London	£7,300 to £10,900
South East	£6,500 to £9,800
East of England	£6,300 to £9,400
South West	£6,100 to £9,200
West Midlands	£5,900 to £8,800
East Midlands	£5,800 to £8,700
Scotland	£5,800 to £8,700
North West	£5,700 to £8,600
Yorkshire and the Humber	£5,700 to £8,600
Wales	£5,600 to £8,500
North East	£5,600 to £8,400
Northern Ireland	£5,400 to £8,000

Which region is my town in? Brighton, Oxford and Southampton are in the South East; Cambridge and Norwich in the East of England; Bristol, Bath and Exeter in the South West; Birmingham and Coventry in the West Midlands; Nottingham and Leicester in the East Midlands; Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland; Manchester and Liverpool in the North West; Leeds, Sheffield and Hull in Yorkshire and the Humber; Cardiff and Swansea in Wales; Newcastle and Sunderland in the North East; and Belfast in Northern Ireland. Somewhere else? Type your postcode into the calculator above and it says which region’s prices it uses.

Want it for your area? See local prices and council building control fees for 92 council areas in England and Wales (not every council yet).

What each finish looks like

The finish moves a bathroom price more than anything else. Our sources do not split tiling from wall panels, so ask which each quote allows for.

Full bathroom refit in the same layout, by finish (UK average outside London, including VAT, September 2026)
Finish	What it might look like	Typical cost
Basic	For example, a standard white suite, a basic shower and tiling or wall panels around the bath or shower only.	£4,000 to £5,500
Mid-range	For example, a mid-priced suite, a thermostatic shower and tiling or wall panels over most of the walls.	£6,000 to £9,000
Premium	For example, designer taps and fittings, a wall-hung toilet and large tiles or panels from floor to ceiling.	£11,000 to £16,000

Labour only. Refitting a bathroom in the same layout, labour only (fitting the suite, plumbing it in and tiling or panelling), typically costs about £2,000 to £4,000, and taking out the old bathroom is often £300 to £800 more (2026 guide prices, which mostly don’t say whether VAT is included). If you buy the suite, tiles and fittings yourself, the quote checker can check a labour-only quote for a same-layout refit against this figure, adjusted for your region.

A new downstairs wet room where there is no bathroom now

Making a wet room from an existing bathroom costs about £7,500 to £11,000, mid-range and including VAT. Making one in a downstairs room that has no bathroom now costs more, about £10,000 to £15,500 on the same basis. Our figure covers a wet room made in an existing ground-floor room where there is no bathroom now: a stud wall and door if needed, new water and waste pipes that slope down to the soil stack or drain over a short run (a gravity connection), electrics, an extractor fan and building control, plus the wet room itself (tanked floor laid to fall to a floor drain, level-access shower, toilet and basin). If the waste pipes can't slope down to the drain, a pump that takes the toilet, basin and shower costs about £600 to £1,500 fitted. A long drain run, digging through a concrete floor or a new outside connection can add about £1,000 to £3,500. Both are on top of this price. Price a new downstairs wet room.

Room size. Our wet room prices are one figure whatever the size of the room. Our sources price a standard wet room at about 2 m × 2.5 m to 3 m, a smaller room for a little less and a larger one for more (MyJobQuote).

Building regulations and hot water

Refitting a bathroom in the same place doesn’t usually need building regulations approval, but a new en-suite or downstairs toilet usually does, because it adds drainage, ventilation and electrics (Planning Portal). A building notice is the quicker route: no plans are needed, so it suits small work like this (Planning Portal, England; Planning Portal Wales). Ask each fitter who submits it and whether the fee is in the price.

An extra shower can need more hot water than a combi boiler can supply. A combi heats water as you use it, so two showers at once may both run cooler; ask your plumber or heating engineer whether yours can cope.

Water pressure. On a gravity system, where a cold water tank in the loft feeds a hot water cylinder, the pressure at a shower is often low, so a new shower may need a shower pump. Ask whether it is in the price. An unvented cylinder (fed straight from the mains, with no tank in the loft) gives mains pressure instead, but it stores hot water under pressure. In England and Wales, choose an installer with the skills for it, such as one registered with a competent person scheme for unvented systems; fitting one is notifiable building work, so building control must be told before work starts, unless that registered installer self-certifies it (paragraphs 3.40 to 3.42 of Approved Document G for England and for Wales). In Scotland and Northern Ireland, ask your installer or building control what applies. Replacing one costs about £1,400 to £2,200: see unvented cylinder replacement costs.

If your fitter isn’t VAT registered

A fitter who isn’t VAT registered charges no VAT on their labour, so their labour price is about a sixth lower than the same price from a VAT-registered firm, which has to add 20%. You still pay VAT on the suite, tiles and fittings you or they buy. Compare quotes on the total you will pay, including any VAT. The quote checker has a choice for a quote with no VAT charged: it treats about 55% of a typical bathroom price as labour and keeps VAT on the rest, the materials.

Adapting a bathroom for a disabled person

VAT. Building or adapting a bathroom, shower room, wet room or toilet to suit a disabled person’s condition, in their own home, can be zero rated, meaning no VAT (section 6.3). It applies to a person with a long-term illness or disability: a physical or mental impairment with a long-term and substantial effect on everyday activities, or a condition doctors treat as a chronic sickness, such as diabetes. Age alone doesn’t qualify (section 3.2.1): what counts is the condition. If a long-term illness or disability makes everyday things hard, such as getting up and down the stairs, you may qualify, and you don’t need to be registered as disabled (section 3.1). Not sure if you qualify? HMRC Notice 701/7 explains it, so ask the installer before work starts. The installer should ask you to sign a written declaration that you qualify, separate from any order form or invoice (section 3.6); a parent, guardian, doctor or another responsible person can sign it if you can’t (section 3.7). People aged 60 or over pay VAT at 5% on some mobility aids supplied and fitted in their home, such as grab rails, ramps, bath lifts, built-in shower seats and walk-in baths with sealable doors, again with a signed declaration (section 9). All from HMRC VAT Notice 701/7.

Grants. A Disabled Facilities Grant can help pay for adaptations. In England you can get up to £30,000 and in Wales up to £36,000, from your council (GOV.UK). In Northern Ireland you apply to the Housing Executive, for up to £35,000 (nidirect). It is not available in Scotland, and for adults the amount depends on household income and savings (GOV.UK).

Who decides. Your council does (the Housing Executive in Northern Ireland). Someone living in the home must be disabled, and the council must be satisfied that the work is necessary and appropriate for that person’s needs, and reasonable and possible given the age and condition of the house (GOV.UK). Your age on its own doesn’t decide it. The council may send an occupational therapist or trained assessor to see what changes you need, and in England and Wales it must give you a decision within 6 months (GOV.UK). If stairs or bathing have become hard, ask your council:

Can someone assess what changes I need?
Would a downstairs wet room or level-access shower be covered?
Will my income and savings be taken into account, and how much might I get?
What do you need from me and from builders before you decide?
When will I hear?

Wait for approval before any work starts: you might not get any grant if work starts before the council approves your application (GOV.UK), and in Northern Ireland work must not start until the Housing Executive has approved it (nidirect).

Next steps

Get at least three written quotes on the same description of the work, then line them up with the checklists below and check where each one sits with the quote checker.

Doing both? Rewiring and refitting a bathroom at the same time? Book the electrician first, so walls are opened once. New cables go in at first fix (the stage when cables and pipes are run), before plastering and before the room is fitted (see the order of work).

What's included in these prices

Included

Removal of the old suite and tiles
New bath or shower, basin, toilet and taps
Plumbing and waste connections
Tiling or wall panels (our sources do not split the two, so ask which each quote allows for)
Basic electrics such as an extractor fan and lighting
Fitting labour

Not included

Moving the soil stack or major drainage changes (for a wet room where there is no bathroom now, choose the new downstairs wet room)
Underfloor heating (unless specified)
Structural work
Decoration outside the bathroom

What drives the cost

Layout. Keeping the toilet near the soil stack and the bath or shower where it is saves the most money.
Tiling or wall panels. Large-format porcelain and floor-to-ceiling tiling or panels add material and labour.
Fittings. Thermostatic showers (which hold the water at the temperature you set), freestanding baths and wall-hung toilets cost more to buy and to fit.
Waterproofing. Wet rooms need a fully tanked (waterproofed) floor and a proper fall to the drain.
Size. Smaller rooms can take longer per m² because of cutting and access.

Planning, regulations and VAT

A replacement bathroom usually needs no planning permission. New drainage, a new extractor or new electrical circuits must meet building regulations, and electrical work in a bathroom must be done by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme or notified to building control. A new en-suite or downstairs toilet usually needs building regulations approval; see building regulations and hot water above, and adapting a bathroom for a disabled person for the VAT relief and grants.

Checklist: what to ask bathroom fitters to confirm

For a refit, an en-suite, a wet room in an existing bathroom or a downstairs toilet. Making a new wet room where there is no bathroom now? Use the new wet room checklist below. Print this or save it as a PDF, one copy for each quote. Mark each line included, separate or not confirmed as quotes come in. An empty amount means unknown, not free.

Print one copy for each quote you are comparing
Item	What to confirm	Included? Amount?
Strip-out	Removal of the suite, tiles and waste.
Suite and fittings	Bath, shower, basin, toilet and taps, and the brassware (the shower valve, wastes and other metal fittings).
Tiling or wall panels	Which one, the area covered and the tile or panel choice (our sources don't split the two).
Plumbing	Moves, waste and water supply changes.
Electrics	Extractor, lighting and heated towel rail.
Approval	For a new en-suite or toilet: who submits the building regulations application and whether the fee is in the price.
Finishing	Ceiling, decoration and accessories.

Checklist for a new downstairs wet room

For a wet room made in a downstairs room where there is no bathroom now. Print this or save it as a PDF, one copy for each quote. Mark each line included, separate or not confirmed as quotes come in. An empty amount means unknown, not free.

Print one copy for each quote you are comparing
Item	What to confirm	Included? Amount?
Room and walls	Which room, any stud wall and door, and making good around them (repairing the walls and floor around the work).
Drain route and distance	Where the new waste pipe runs to the soil stack or drain, how far it is, and whether it can slope down all the way (a gravity connection).
Pump	If the waste can't slope down to the drain: the pump that takes the toilet, basin and shower, and its fitted price.
Floor	Whether the floor is concrete or timber, and whether cutting a concrete floor for the drain and the fall is priced.
Waterproofing	Tanking (waterproofing) the whole floor and the lower walls, with the floor laid to fall to the drain.
Water, heat and electrics	New water pipes, the shower, any heating, the extractor fan and lighting.
Building control	Who submits the building regulations application, and whether the fee is in the price.
Grant or VAT relief	If it is for someone with a disability: council approval of any grant before work starts, and the signed declaration for zero rated VAT.

Questions people ask

How much does a bathroom fitter charge for labour only?

Refitting a bathroom in the same layout, labour only (fitting the suite, plumbing it in and tiling or panelling), typically costs about £2,000 to £4,000, and taking out the old bathroom is often £300 to £800 more (2026 guide prices, which mostly don’t say whether VAT is included). The quote checker can check a labour-only quote for a same-layout refit against that figure, adjusted for your region.

How much does a small bathroom cost to renovate?

Basic refits start at about £4,000 including VAT; a mid-range refit is £6,000 to £9,000.

How much does an en-suite cost?

About £7,000 to £10,500 including VAT for a mid-range en-suite in existing floor space.

How much does a downstairs toilet cost?

About £2,800 to £4,000 including VAT for a mid-range cloakroom, if there is a practical route for the waste pipe.

How much does a wet room cost?

About £7,500 to £11,000 including VAT to make an existing bathroom into a mid-range wet room, or £10,000 to £15,500 for a new downstairs wet room where there is no bathroom now, with new pipes and drainage.

Do I need building regulations approval for a new en-suite?

Usually, yes, because a new en-suite adds drainage, ventilation and electrics. A building notice is the quicker route. Ask the fitter who submits it and whether the fee is in their price.

Sources and method

Our ranges combine published 2026 UK cost guides, industry data and our own survey of council fees. We check them every quarter. They are budget ranges, not quotes: always get at least three detailed written quotes. Read how Estiquote estimates work, or download the full cost data.