Bathroom Renovation Cost London 2026: Refits, En-Suites and Moves

In London in 2026, a bathroom refit on the same layout typically costs £8,000–£14,000 at budget level and £14,000–£24,000 at mid-range, with high-specification bathrooms at £24,000–£45,000 or more. A well-specified new shower room or en-suite in an existing house is typically £10,000–£18,000. These are construction costs excluding VAT. Layout changes, drainage, the tiled area, wet room tanking and the sanitaryware you choose move the price most. A bathroom in a loft or extension is priced as part of that project.

What a bathroom costs in London in 2026

These are Alstruct's published 2026 ranges for bathrooms in London houses, the same figures as in our Victorian terrace renovation cost guide. They cover the building work (strip-out, plumbing, electrics, plastering, tiling, sanitaryware and fitting) and exclude VAT at 20%. The £8,000–£25,000 bathroom range on our cost guides page spans the budget and mid-range bands below; a high-specification room goes above it.

Project	Typical London cost (excl. VAT)	What it usually covers
Refit, same layout, budget	£8,000–£14,000	New sanitaryware, tiling, basic fixtures and fittings; supply and waste stay where they are
Refit, mid-range	£14,000–£24,000	Better sanitaryware, walk-in shower, freestanding bath, full wall and floor tiling, heated towel rail, new ventilation
Refit, high specification	£24,000–£45,000+	Designer sanitaryware, large-format tiles, bespoke vanity furniture, underfloor heating, ceiling-height tiling, frameless shower enclosure
New shower room or en-suite	£10,000–£18,000	A well-specified new shower room formed in an existing room, with new supply, waste and extraction
Moving the bathroom	Priced after a visit	A new room in a new place, plus the drainage run and making good the old room (see below)
Loft or extension bathroom	Part of the loft or extension price	Our dormer loft range of £45,000–£75,000 (including VAT) reaches its upper end with a tiled en-suite shower room

A flat can cost more than a house for the same room, where access, parking, working hours and protection of the common parts add time.

What drives the cost

• Layout change. Keeping the bath, WC and basin where they are is the cheapest route, because the soil stack, waste runs and supply pipes stay. Moving the WC is usually the biggest change, as it needs a large waste pipe with a proper fall to the stack.
• Plumbing and drainage. Old lead or iron supply pipes, a cast iron soil stack or a long waste run under the floor add labour. Joists can only be notched or drilled within limits, so a long run can mean boxing in or lowering a ceiling below.
• Tiling area. Tiling the shower area and a splashback costs far less than floor-to-ceiling tiling on every wall; large-format and natural stone tiles need flatter walls and more time.
• Sanitaryware level. The same room can differ by thousands of pounds depending on the bath, shower valve, taps, enclosure and vanity unit chosen.
• Wet room or level-access shower. The floor needs a fall to the drain, often a lowered or rebuilt timber floor, and a full waterproofing (tanking) system under the tiles. Leaks from a badly tanked floor show up in the room below, so this is not a place to save.
• Extraction. Approved Document F sets a minimum intermittent extract rate of 15 litres per second for a bathroom. An internal room with no outside wall needs a longer duct to the roof or a wall.
• Electrics under Part P. A new circuit, a new consumer unit, or changes to circuits in the area around a bath or shower are notifiable. A registered electrician self-certifies the work; otherwise building control must be told before it starts.
• Heating. A heated towel rail, a new radiator position or electric underfloor heating each add cost.
• What the strip-out finds. Rotten boards, joists damaged by an old leak, failed plaster or a damp outside wall only show once the old suite is out. We price anything beyond the agreed scope in writing before it is done.

When building regulations apply

GOV.UK lists installing a bathroom that will involve plumbing, and changing electrics near a bath or shower, among the alterations that may need building regulations approval. A like-for-like replacement in the same place is the simplest case. In practice, plan for approval or certification where there is:

• new drainage or a moved WC, under Part H, and new mechanical extraction, under Part F;
• notifiable electrical work under Part P, certified by an electrician registered with a competent person scheme or approved by building control;
• structural work, such as trimming joists for a new waste or carrying a heavy stone or cast iron bath, where an engineer may need to check the floor;
• a bathroom inside a loft conversion or extension, which is covered by that project's building regulations application.

Keep the completion certificate and electrical certificates: a buyer's conveyancer is likely to ask for them when you sell.

Moving the bathroom or adding a second one

Moving a bathroom, for example from a ground floor rear addition up to the first floor, is priced as a new room in a new place plus the removal of the old one. Start from the new shower room range of £10,000–£18,000, or the refit band that matches your specification, then add the new drainage run to the stack, any new or extended soil stack, and making good the old room as a kitchen, utility or bedroom. Whether the WC can reach the stack with a gravity fall decides much of the cost, so it is the first thing we check on a visit.

A second bathroom or an en-suite to the main bedroom is a common change in a London terrace that has only one bathroom. Our guide to value-adding home improvements covers what an extra bedroom and bathroom can do for a home's value.

Loft and extension bathrooms

A bathroom in a new loft or extension is part of that build: the structure, insulation, drainage and electrics sit in the main price, and the fit-out follows the refit bands above. Our loft conversion cost guide puts a dormer at £45,000–£75,000 including VAT, with a tiled en-suite shower room at the upper end. Under a sloping roof, head height at the WC, shower and basin, and a route for the waste to the stack, decide the layout.

Flats and leasehold consent

In a leasehold flat, read the lease before you plan the bathroom. The Leasehold Advisory Service explains that a lease may ban alterations, allow them, or allow them only with the landlord's written consent or a formal licence, and that planning permission or building regulations approval does not replace that consent. It gives new pipework through outside walls and hard flooring as examples of work that often needs consent. Moving a bathroom over a neighbour's bedroom is the kind of change a landlord will look at closely. Ask your conveyancer what your lease allows, and have any consent in writing before work starts.

How long a bathroom takes

Our renovations page gives 3–6 weeks on site as typical for a bathroom. The real time depends on what the strip-out finds and on deliveries of sanitaryware and tiles, so we programme a bathroom as stages rather than a date:

1. Protection, strip-out and inspection of the floor, walls and pipework.
2. First fix: supply and waste pipework, extract duct, cables and any floor or joist repairs.
3. Boarding, plastering and tanking, with the waterproofing left to cure.
4. Tiling of walls and floor.
5. Second fix: sanitaryware, taps, shower screen, towel rail, lights and fan.
6. Testing, electrical certification, sealing and a snagging walk-round with you.

Buying a house with a bathroom to redo

If the house you are buying has a tired or badly converted bathroom, our pre-purchase advice gives you a written, itemised budget for it, and for any other works, before you exchange. We visit with you or review the house by video and read your survey. The fee is from £500 + VAT, credited in full if you appoint Alstruct for the works within six months of the report. We price the works; we do not carry out surveys or value the property.

Getting a fixed price

We price every bathroom after a site visit as a fixed, itemised quote for the agreed scope, set out trade by trade, on a JCT contract. If the scope changes, or the strip-out shows more is needed, you get a written price before that work goes ahead. Our home renovation service covers bathrooms on their own or as part of a wider refurbishment, with our 10-year workmanship warranty on the finished work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• GOV.UK: when you need building regulations approval
• Planning Portal: electrics, building regulations general information
• GOV.UK: Approved Document F, ventilation
• The Leasehold Advisory Service: alterations and home improvements
• HMRC: buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708)

Figures are 2026 London guide ranges, checked on 13 November 2026. Your own price depends on the house, the layout and the finishes, and is fixed after a site visit.