New Bathroom Cost UK 2026: Prices by Type and Size
What a new bathroom really costs in 2026: national averages, cost by type and size, labour and materials broken down, regional prices, timescales, regs and a worked Southampton example.
Key takeaways
- The national average for a like-for-like bathroom refit is around £7,000 in 2026.
- Mid-range bathrooms with a new layout cost £8,000 to £15,000; high-end bathrooms £15,000 to £30,000 or more.
- A full design-and-build bathroom in Southampton typically runs £15,000 to £35,000, and a luxury bathroom £30,000 to £55,000.
- Proper tanking, ventilation and Part P electrics are where cheap quotes cut corners.
On this page (20 sections)
- Bathroom renovation cost at a glance
- Cost by bathroom type and size
- Where the money goes: labour vs materials
- Bathroom fitting cost: labour explained
- Bathroom installation cost: materials
- What pushes the cost up
- Hidden costs and surprises
- New bathroom cost by region
- What does a bathroom cost in Southampton?
- How long does a bathroom refit take?
- Building regulations for a new bathroom
- Does a new bathroom add value?
- How to get the most for your budget
- Worked example: a Southampton family bathroom
- DIY vs professional
- How to vet a bathroom fitter
- Deposits and staged payments
- When to book
- Family bathroom, en-suite or cloakroom: where to spend first
- Ventilation and mould: designed in, not bolted on
A new bathroom in the UK costs around £7,000 on average for a like-for-like refit in 2026, with budget refits from £4,500 to £8,000, mid-range bathrooms £8,000 to £15,000 and high-end bathrooms £15,000 to £30,000 or more, excluding VAT. A full design-and-build bathroom in Southampton typically runs £15,000 to £35,000.
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
New bathroom cost by level (2026, ex VAT)
| 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 | 2 – 6 m² | £3,800 – £11,000 | £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
A bathroom fitter charges £160 to £350 a day, and labour-only for a standard bathroom runs £1,100 to £3,000 depending on region.
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.
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
Common surprises are rotten joists (£500 to £2,000), old pipework (£500 to £1,500) and replastering (£300 to £800), so keep a contingency. 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
A mid-range bathroom costs £9,000 to £16,000 in the South East, including Southampton, against £10,000 to £18,000 in London and £7,000 to £13,000 in the North, Scotland and Wales.
| 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, our design-and-build bathrooms typically 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. For smaller rooms, see our small bathroom ideas, and for level-access showers our guide to wet rooms vs walk-in showers. 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. 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
This example uses independent-fitter pricing, not our design-and-build service, which starts around £15,000. 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.
Figures are based on published UK trade cost guides, adjusted for south Hampshire rates. Use them to set a sensible budget, then get a proper design consultation before you buy a single tile.
Written by
The Pure Renovation & Design team
A Southampton design-and-build company whose team has 18 years of hands-on experience in extensions, loft conversions, full renovations, bathrooms and joinery across Hampshire. Prices are cross-checked against published UK trade cost guides and official fee schedules, and reviewed whenever prices or rules change.
Last reviewed 13 October 2026 · About the team
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Bespoke Bathrooms Southampton
Family bathrooms, en-suites and wet rooms, fully tanked and fitted by our own plumber and tiler.
