How Much Does a New Bathroom Cost in the UK? (2026)
A new bathroom is one of the most satisfying rooms to renovate and one of the easiest to underbudget, because the numbers online range from a few thousand pounds to fifty thousand. So, plainly: how much does a new bathroom cost in 2026? The national average is around £7,000 for a like-for-like refit by a fitter, but that figure tells you almost nothing about your bathroom. This guide breaks the cost down by type and size, splits labour from materials with real day rates and per-task prices, shows tiling and sanitaryware costs by tier, gives a regional table, timescales, the building regulations that apply, and a worked example for a Southampton family bathroom.
Bathroom renovation cost at a glance
| Level | Typical cost (ex VAT) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Budget refit | £4,500 – £8,000 | Like-for-like replacement of a standard suite, new tiling to the wet areas, existing layout kept |
| Mid-range | £8,000 – £15,000 | New layout, quality sanitaryware and brassware, walk-in shower, fully tiled, extractor and lighting |
| High-end / design-led | £15,000 – £30,000+ | Designer sanitaryware, large-format or stone tiles, underfloor heating, wet room or freestanding bath, bespoke storage |
| Design-and-build (Southampton, us) | £15,000 – £35,000; luxury £30,000 – £55,000 | Full design service, trade-priced supply, one in-house team, tanking and certification as standard |
The national average of around £7,000 sits at the top of the budget band. It is the right number if you want the same bathroom, newer. It is not the right number if you are moving the layout, going for a wet room or specifying underfloor heating and porcelain, which is why so many quotes seem to "come in high".
Cost by bathroom type and size
| Bathroom | Typical size | Like-for-like refit | New layout, good spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloakroom / downstairs WC | 1 – 2 m² | £2,000 – £4,000 | £4,000 – £7,000 |
| En-suite | 2.5 – 4 m² | £4,000 – £7,000 | £8,000 – £15,000 |
| Small family bathroom | 3 – 5 m² | £4,500 – £8,000 | £8,000 – £14,000 |
| Large family bathroom | 5 – 8 m² | £6,000 – £10,000 | £12,000 – £20,000 |
| Wet room | 3 – 6 m² | £6,000 – £12,000 | £10,000 – £25,000 |
Small rooms are not proportionally cheap. The WC, basin, shower, plumbing, electrics and extractor cost the same whether the room is three square metres or eight; only the tiling and flooring scale with size. For the wet room figures in detail, see our wet room vs walk-in shower guide.
Where the money goes: labour vs materials
Labour is typically 40 to 60 per cent of a bathroom renovation, higher than in most rooms because so many trades pass through a small space: strip-out, plumbing first fix, electrics, plastering, tanking, tiling, second fix and decoration. A mid-range £12,000 bathroom breaks down roughly like this:
| Element | Typical cost | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Strip-out and disposal | £300 – £600 | 3 – 5% |
| Plumbing (first and second fix) | £1,200 – £2,500 | 12 – 18% |
| Electrics, lighting, extractor, UFH wiring | £600 – £1,200 | 6 – 10% |
| Plastering and tanking | £500 – £1,200 | 5 – 8% |
| Tiling labour | £800 – £1,800 | 8 – 12% |
| Tiles | £600 – £2,000 | 6 – 12% |
| Sanitaryware and brassware | £1,500 – £4,000 | 15 – 25% |
| Shower enclosure or screen | £300 – £1,200 | 3 – 8% |
| Furniture, mirror, accessories | £300 – £1,500 | 3 – 8% |
| Decoration and making good | £300 – £600 | 3 – 5% |
Bathroom fitting cost: labour explained
Day rates by region
| Region | Bathroom fitter day rate | Labour-only, standard bathroom |
|---|---|---|
| London | £250 – £350 | £1,800 – £3,000 |
| South East (incl. Hampshire) | £220 – £320 | £1,500 – £2,800 |
| Midlands and South West | £180 – £280 | £1,200 – £2,300 |
| North, Scotland and Wales | £160 – £250 | £1,100 – £2,000 |
Add £700 to £1,000 for a wet room or a layout change, and separate trades for plastering (£200 to £300 a day) and electrics (£250 to £350 a day) if the fitter does not cover them.
Per-task labour costs
If you are pricing a partial job: fitting a toilet £120 to £250, a basin £100 to £200, a bath £150 to £400, a shower and enclosure £200 to £450, a heated towel rail £100 to £200, and tiling £40 to £60 per m². These are fitting only, excluding the items themselves.
Fixed price vs day rate
Most fitters quote a fixed price for the whole job, which protects you from overruns but bakes in a margin for risk. Day rates are cheaper if everything goes to plan and dearer if it does not. For a full renovation, a fixed price with a clear scope and a written variation process is the safer option.
Bathroom installation cost: materials
Sanitaryware by tier
| Tier | Typical brands | Suite cost (WC, basin, bath or shower tray) |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | Own-brand, entry ranges | £400 – £900 |
| Mid-range | Roca, Ideal Standard, Vitra, Tavistock | £900 – £2,500 |
| Designer | Duravit, Villeroy & Boch, Laufen, Crosswater, Lusso | £2,500 – £8,000+ |
Wall-hung WCs and basins with concealed cisterns and frames add £300 to £800 over floor-standing equivalents but make a small room feel far bigger and easier to clean.
Baths and showers
A standard acrylic bath costs £150 to £400; a freestanding bath £800 to £3,000 or more, and a heavy cast-iron or stone-resin one may need the floor reinforcing. A mixer shower with a thermostatic valve runs £250 to £900, an electric shower £150 to £400, and a digital or concealed shower system £600 to £2,000. Enclosures and screens run £250 to £1,500 depending on size and glass thickness.
Tiling cost per m²
| Tile type | Material per m² | Labour per m² |
|---|---|---|
| Ceramic | £15 – £25 | £40 – £50 |
| Porcelain | £30 – £60 | £45 – £60 |
| Large-format porcelain (over 600 mm) | £40 – £80 | £55 – £75 |
| Natural stone | £60 – £120+ | £60 – £90 |
| Mosaic | £40 – £100 | £70 – £100 |
A typical family bathroom has 20 to 30 m² of wall and floor tiling, so tiling alone runs £1,500 to £5,000 depending on choice. Add adhesive, grout, trims and tanking membrane at £10 to £20 per m².
Brassware, lighting and the small things
Taps and shower valves from £80 to £800 per item; bathroom-rated downlights £40 to £80 each fitted; an extractor fan £150 to £400 fitted; a heated towel rail £150 to £600; an LED mirror £150 to £600; and electric underfloor heating £400 to £900 for a typical bathroom including the thermostat, the upgrade clients thank us for most.
What pushes the cost up
- Layout changes. Moving the WC means moving the soil pipe; moving the bath or shower means new hot, cold and waste runs under the floor. Budget £1,000 to £3,000 for a reconfiguration.
- Wet rooms. Full tanking, a graded floor and a linear drain add £1,500 to £3,500 over a like-for-like walk-in shower.
- Specification. The same layout can be finished for £8,000 or £25,000. Sanitaryware, tiles and brassware are where it happens.
- Ventilation and waterproofing done properly. A correctly sized extractor, full tanking and mould-resistant grout cost a few hundred pounds now and save the black silicone, peeling paint and musty smell two winters later.
- Underfloor heating. £400 to £900, and worth it.
Hidden costs and surprises
Bathrooms hide more problems per square metre than any other room. Once the old tiles and bath come out, you may find rotten joists under a leaking shower (£500 to £2,000), old lead or iron pipework that must be replaced (£500 to £1,500), walls that need replastering (£300 to £800), or asbestos in old floor tiles, adhesive or a textured ceiling (£200 to £500 to test, £1,000 or more to remove). Keep a 10 to 20 per cent contingency and ask your fitter what they found on the last three jobs.
New bathroom cost by region
| Region | Mid-range bathroom, all-in |
|---|---|
| London | £10,000 – £18,000 |
| South East (incl. Southampton and Hampshire) | £9,000 – £16,000 |
| South West and East of England | £8,500 – £15,000 |
| Midlands | £8,000 – £14,000 |
| North, Scotland and Wales | £7,000 – £13,000 |
What does a bathroom cost in Southampton?
In Southampton, most bathrooms we design and install land between £15,000 and £35,000, from a well-specified mid-range bathroom to a fully bespoke one, with luxury wet rooms and main en-suites with steam showers or freestanding baths running £30,000 to £55,000. That is the design-and-build end of the market: a design consultation, trade-priced supply, the same plumber, tiler and electrician on site from strip-out to handover, full tanking and underfloor heating as standard, and every certificate handled. We supply everything or work with fittings you have already chosen, and you see every supplier invoice at cost. We cover Fareham, Hedge End, Eastleigh, Winchester and the surrounding area as well as the city.
How long does a bathroom refit take?
| Job | On site |
|---|---|
| Like-for-like refit, standard bathroom | 3 – 5 working days |
| New layout with tanking, UFH and full tiling | 2 – 4 weeks |
| Wet room | Add 1 – 2 days for tanking and falls |
| Bespoke design-and-build with joinery or a wet room | 4 – 6 weeks on site, 6 – 8 for larger wet rooms or layouts that move the soil pipe |
Day one is strip-out, days two and three plumbing and electrical first fix, then plastering and tanking need to cure, tiling takes three to six days in a typical room, then second fix, silicone and decoration. Lead times on sanitaryware and tiles are the usual reason a bathroom waits; order before the strip-out, not after.
Building regulations for a new bathroom
You will not need planning permission, but building regulations apply more often than people expect. New circuits, an extractor, underfloor heating and lighting fall under Part P and must be installed and certified by a registered electrician. New or altered drainage and moving the WC need building control approval under Part H. An extractor fan is required under Part F, at 15 litres per second intermittent or 8 continuous. Hot water safety falls under Part G. A good installer handles the certification and gives you the paperwork you will need when you sell.
Does a new bathroom add value?
A well-fitted new bathroom typically adds 3 to 5 per cent to a home's value, and a second bathroom or en-suite in a family home adds more. Design-led bathrooms rarely return their full cost, so specify for how you want to live. What a new bathroom definitely does is remove an objection: a dated or damaged bathroom is one of the first things buyers price down.
How to get the most for your budget
- Keep the layout if it works. Moving the WC is the single most expensive decision in a bathroom.
- Spend on what touches water. Tanking, the shower valve and the tiling labour are not the places to save.
- Choose porcelain over ceramic for floors and wet areas; it lasts.
- Wall-hung sanitaryware makes a small room feel bigger and is easier to clean.
- Order everything before strip-out so the room is not out of action waiting for a basin.
- Get a line-by-line quote that separates tiles, sanitaryware, labour and waste, and states VAT.
Worked example: a Southampton family bathroom
A 5 m² family bathroom in a 1980s house in Hedge End, layout changed to swap the bath for a walk-in shower with a low-profile tray and add a wall-hung WC. Strip-out and skip £450; plumbing including new waste runs £2,200; electrics, extractor, downlights and underfloor heating £1,600; plastering and tanking £900; 24 m² porcelain tiling supplied and fitted £2,900; mid-range sanitaryware, concealed cistern and frame £2,100; thermostatic shower and 10 mm screen £1,300; vanity unit, mirror and towel rail £1,200; decoration and silicone £400. Total around £13,050 ex VAT, about £15,700 with VAT, three weeks on site. The same room with designer sanitaryware, large-format stone-effect porcelain and bespoke joinery would land at £22,000 to £28,000.
DIY vs professional
You can save on labour by stripping out the old bathroom yourself and by decorating at the end. Everything in between is a poor place to save. Plumbing and electrical work in a bathroom must meet building regulations and, for electrics, be certified under Part P; tanking and tiling are where amateur work fails, usually two winters later; and a fitter's fixed price includes the sequencing that stops five trades tripping over each other in a room the size of a cupboard. A realistic DIY saving on a mid-range bathroom is £500 to £1,500, against a real risk of a £5,000 leak.
How to vet a bathroom fitter
Ask for three recent bathrooms you can see photographs of close up, so you can judge the silicone lines and grout joints, not just the wide shot. Ask who does the electrics and whether they are registered to self-certify under Part P. Ask whether the tanking is a liquid or sheet system and what warranty covers it. Ask for a line-by-line quote that separates tiles, sanitaryware, labour and waste, and states VAT. And ask what happens if they find rotten joists or old pipework: a good fitter prices the fix and asks you to approve it in writing before continuing.
Deposits and staged payments
A deposit of 10 to 25 per cent to secure the booking and cover materials is normal; anything over 50 per cent up front is not. On a larger bathroom, staged payments tied to milestones, such as first fix complete, tiling complete and handover, protect both sides. Never pay the final balance until the snagging is done and the certificates are in your hand.
When to book
Bathroom fitters are busiest from January to March, when people act on New Year plans, and in the autumn before Christmas. Lead times on sanitaryware run two to six weeks and on bespoke or imported tiles up to twelve, so a spring or early summer booking, ordered in advance, tends to get the smoothest programme.
Family bathroom, en-suite or cloakroom: where to spend first
If the budget only stretches to one room, the family bathroom is almost always the right call: it is the one buyers judge, the one that gets the hardest daily use, and the one where a bath still matters in a family home. An en-suite adds convenience and resale value in a house with three or more bedrooms. A downstairs cloakroom is the cheapest add and the one with the best return for a house that lacks one.
Ventilation and mould: designed in, not bolted on
Most bathroom complaints a year after fitting are about condensation and mould, and almost all trace back to extraction. A correctly sized extractor rated to at least 15 litres per second, ducted to the outside rather than into the loft, ideally humidity-sensing or on a run-on timer, plus mould-resistant grout and silicone, prevents the black corners and peeling paint that plague poorly fitted bathrooms. Underfloor heating helps too, by drying the floor between uses. It is a few hundred pounds that protects the whole room.
Planning a new bathroom in Southampton?
Book a free design consultation. We sketch two or three layouts, price them line by line with VAT stated, and deliver the whole thing with one in-house team.
The ranges here are based on our own bathroom quotes over the last twelve months and published UK trade guides, and are correct as of August 2026. Use them to set a sensible budget, then get a proper design consultation before you buy a single tile.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average cost of a new bathroom in the UK?
The national average for a new bathroom in 2026 is around £7,000, covering a like-for-like replacement of a standard suite with new tiling by a bathroom fitter. Budget refits start at around £4,500, a good mid-range bathroom with a new layout runs £8,000 to £15,000, and design-led or bespoke bathrooms £15,000 to £30,000 or more. London and the South East sit 15 to 25 per cent above the average.
How much does a bathroom fitter charge?
Around £160 to £350 a day depending on region, or £220 to £320 in the South East. Labour-only for a standard three-piece bathroom is typically £1,100 to £3,000, plus £700 to £1,000 for a wet room or a layout change, with plastering and electrics sometimes charged by separate trades. Most fitters quote a fixed price for the whole job rather than a day rate, which is the safer basis for a full renovation.
How much does a small bathroom cost to renovate?
A small bathroom or cloakroom of 2 to 4 m² typically costs £4,000 to £8,000 for a like-for-like refit and £8,000 to £14,000 with a new layout and good-quality fittings. Small rooms are not proportionally cheap, because the fixed items, the WC, basin, shower, plumbing and electrics, cost the same whatever the floor area.
How much does an en-suite cost?
Around £4,000 to £7,000 for a like-for-like refit, £8,000 to £15,000 for a new layout with good fittings, and £15,000 or more with a walk-in shower, wall-hung sanitaryware and underfloor heating. Creating an en-suite where there was none adds new drainage and often a macerator or repositioned soil pipe, typically £1,000 to £3,000 on top.
How much does bathroom tiling cost per m²?
Allow £55 to £85 per m² supplied and fitted for standard porcelain, made up of £30 to £60 for the tiles and £45 to £60 for the labour, and £120 to £200 per m² for natural stone or mosaic. On a typical family bathroom with 20 to 30 m² of tiling that is £1,500 to £5,000, so tile choice is the single biggest lever on a bathroom budget after the layout.
Do I need building regulations approval for a new bathroom?
Yes for most renovations, no for a straight swap. Anything electrical, including a new circuit, extractor, downlights or underfloor heating, must be installed and certified by a registered electrician under Part P, and new or moved drainage, including a relocated WC, needs building control approval. If the old suite comes out and the new one goes in on the same pipework with no new electrics, you usually need nothing beyond the fitter's care.
How long does a bathroom refit take?
Three to five working days for a like-for-like swap by a fitter, two to four weeks for a full renovation with a new layout, tanking, underfloor heating and full tiling, and four to six weeks on site for a bespoke design-and-build room, rising to six to eight where a large wet room or a moved soil pipe is involved. Ordering sanitaryware and tiles before strip-out is what keeps any of those on schedule.
How much contingency should I keep for a bathroom renovation?
Keep 10 to 20 per cent. Bathrooms hide more surprises per square metre than any other room: rotten joists under a leaking shower, old lead or iron pipework, asbestos in floor tiles or textured ceilings, and walls that need replastering once the old tiles come off. A contingency turns those from a crisis into a line item.
Does a new bathroom add value to a house?
Typically 3 to 5 per cent of the property value for a well-fitted family bathroom, and more for adding a second bathroom or en-suite to a three-bedroom house, where the extra room removes a common buyer objection. High-end finishes rarely return their full cost, so treat a design-led bathroom as a lifestyle choice and a mid-range one as an investment.
Is a design-and-build bathroom worth the extra over a fitter?
It depends on the job. For a like-for-like swap, a good independent fitter at the national average of around £7,000 is the right call. For a new layout, a wet room or anything with joinery, a design-and-build service costs more, typically £15,000 to £35,000 in Southampton, but you get the design, trade-priced supply, one accountable team across every trade, and the tanking and certification done as a matter of course, which is where fitter-only bathrooms most often go wrong.