How much does a bathroom renovation cost in the UK?

£12,991.22 including VAT for this one: a 5 m² wet room in an Edwardian terrace in south-west London, standard specification. Every line is on this page.

Why is the total so much more than the cost of the work?

The labour and materials actually installed come to £6,781.02, about 52.2% of the bill. The rest is contingency, site costs and certificates, running a building company, and VAT.

Why am I paying for the builder's overhead and profit?

£1,952.23 of this covers insurance, vehicles, tools, the estimating that was free to you, and putting right the jobs that go wrong. A builder without those is not cheaper. They are a different product.

What is tanking, and why does it cost so much?

The waterproof layer under the tiles, 23.9 m² of it at £529.43 here. Most quotes fold it into "tiling" instead of naming it, which is how two prices for the same bathroom end up hundreds of pounds apart.

Why does the age of the house change the price?

Older fabric hides more, so it carries slower labour rates and a bigger contingency. The same bathroom in a post-war terrace prices 9.0% lower than this Edwardian one, and in a post-2000 property 17.9% lower again, partly because no asbestos survey is needed.

No. It is an estimate for one specific bathroom, not a fixed price. Real costs move with site conditions, specification and what turns up on opening the floor.

Structa

Real engine output · not an estimate range

How much does a bathroom renovation cost?

A 5 m² wet room, standard specification, in an Edwardian terrace in SW20

£12,991.22

including VAT · typically £11,692–£15,589 once specification and site conditions are known

2.5 × 2 m (5 m²)Wet room · standard spec11 working days on site93.79 labour hours

One real bathroom, priced line by line and published in full. Not a fixed price, but an estimate for this specific room, on 25 August 2026.

93.79 hours is the work, not the calendar.

Those hours assume competent, uninterrupted working. They carry no allowance for waiting on materials, weather, an inspector, a decision from you, or another trade finishing first. A real programme runs longer than the hours in it, and a builder who allows for that is quoting honestly, not padding.

What it shows

13 of 25 lines are work most quotes never name
£2,109.78 of it, 31.1% of the trade cost. Tanking, isolating services, carting the old bathroom out. Real work, done on every job, invisible on most quotes.
52.2% of the bill is the work itself
The other 47.8% is contingency, skips and certificates, insurance and vans, and VAT.
+30.6% for premium spec, more than anything found on site
What you pick moves it further than what the builder digs up. A rotten subfloor is £517; moving the toilet £542.

The working

Nothing below is rounded or summarised.

All 25 line items£6,781.02 of labour and materials, in the order the work happens25 items
The 13 marked rarely itemised are not extras. They are in the total either way. Naming them is the difference between a quote you can check and a quote you have to trust.
ItemQuantityLabourTotal
1. 01Asbestos R&D survey (pre-2000 properties — legal hold-point before strip-out)£425.00
  1 item · £0.00 labour · £425.00 materials
  1 item£0.00£425.00
2. 02Isolate and cap services (water, gas, electrics)rarely itemised£90.87
  1 item · £80.87 labour · £10.00 materials
  1 item£80.87£90.87
3. 03Protect access route and floors during strip-out (allowance)rarely itemised£60.38
  1 item · £29.38 labour · £31.00 materials
  1 item£29.38£60.38
4. 04Remove existing sanitaryware and fittingsrarely itemised£102.82
  1 item · £102.82 labour · £0.00 materials
  1 item£102.82£102.82
5. 05Hack off existing wall and floor tilingrarely itemised£312.81
  23.9 m² · £294.88 labour · £17.93 materials
  23.9 m²£294.88£312.81
6. 06Bag, barrow and cart waste to skip (internal)rarely itemised£127.99
  1.43 $m^3$ · £84.25 labour · £43.74 materials
  1.43 $m^3$£84.25£127.99
7. 07Plaster patch + skim around strip-out damage (per m²)£137.48
  5.85 m² · £118.27 labour · £19.21 materials
  5.85 m²£118.27£137.48
8. 08Self-levelling compound (floor prep)rarely itemised£81.05
  5 m² · £44.61 labour · £36.43 materials
  5 m²£44.61£81.05
9. 09Bathroom plumbing — no layout changerarely itemised£393.76
  1 item · £242.60 labour · £151.16 materials
  1 item£242.60£393.76
10. 101st fix electrics — bathroom (back-boxes + cable routing for shaver/extractor)rarely itemised£51.86
  1 item · £35.69 labour · £16.17 materials
  1 item£35.69£51.86
11. 11Bathroom lighting — IP44 downlights + driver (supply+fit allowance)£256.70
  1 item · £107.07 labour · £149.63 materials
  1 item£107.07£256.70
12. 12Bathroom tanking — full room (wet room)rarely itemised£529.43
  23.9 m² · £255.90 labour · £273.54 materials
  23.9 m²£255.90£529.43
13. 13Floor tiling — ceramic£356.80
  5 m² · £169.53 labour · £187.28 materials
  5 m²£169.53£356.80
14. 14Wall tiling — standard ceramic£1,281.26
  18.9 m² · £573.36 labour · £707.90 materials
  18.9 m²£573.36£1,281.26
15. 15Wet room former + drain (supply+fit)£667.59
  1 nr · £181.95 labour · £485.64 materials
  1 nr£181.95£667.59
16. 16Shower mixer / valve (supply+fit)£285.65
  1 nr · £60.65 labour · £225.00 materials
  1 nr£60.65£285.65
17. 17WC supply + fit (close-coupled)£292.08
  1 nr · £101.09 labour · £191.00 materials
  1 nr£101.09£292.08
18. 18Basin + pedestal supply + fit£217.87
  1 nr · £80.87 labour · £137.00 materials
  1 nr£80.87£217.87
19. 19Waste traps + tails (sanitaryware connections)rarely itemised£89.78
  1 item · £40.43 labour · £49.35 materials
  1 item£40.43£89.78
20. 202nd fix bathroom — shaver socket + extractor fanrarely itemised£158.43
  1 item · £40.43 labour · £118.00 materials
  1 item£40.43£158.43
21. 21Internal door + frame + ironmongery (bathroom)£214.59
  1 nr · £101.09 labour · £113.50 materials
  1 nr£101.09£214.59
22. 22Bathroom accessories (heated towel rail, mirror, TP holder)£493.88
  1 item · £71.38 labour · £422.50 materials
  1 item£71.38£493.88
23. 23Mist coat (thinned emulsion on new plaster)rarely itemised£28.56
  5.85 m² · £17.19 labour · £11.38 materials
  5.85 m²£17.19£28.56
24. 24Emulsion paint (walls + ceiling)£42.34
  5 m² · £26.44 labour · £15.90 materials
  5 m²£26.44£42.34
25. 25Silicone mastic perimeter seal (sanitaryware + tiles)rarely itemised£82.04
  1 item · £53.54 labour · £28.50 materials
  1 item£53.54£82.04
Trade cost, labour and materials£6,781.02
£2,914.29 of labour against £3,866.76 of materials. 93.79 hours, 3 weeks with a gang of 2, including curing and drying time.
Where the money goes£6,781.02 of work becomes £12,991.225 steps
StepAmountRunning total
1. Trade cost£6,781.02
  Labour and materials on site · running £6,781.02
  £6,781.02£6,781.02Labour and materials on site
2. Contingency£1,017.15
  15.0% of trade cost, set by the age of the house · running £7,798.17
  £1,017.15£7,798.1715.0% of trade cost, set by the age of the house
3. Site costs & fees£1,075.62
  Initial waste removal skip, Site welfare facilities, Insurance covering works in progress, Professional end-of-works clean, Part P electrical certification, Dust protection screen and air scrubber for the room being worked on · running £8,873.79
  £1,075.62£8,873.79Initial waste removal skip, Site welfare facilities, Insurance covering works in progress, Professional end-of-works clean, Part P electrical certification, Dust protection screen and air scrubber for the room being worked on
4. Running the business£1,952.23
  Insurance, vans, tools, the estimating that was free, warranty, the jobs that go wrong · running £10,826.02
  £1,952.23£10,826.02Insurance, vans, tools, the estimating that was free, warranty, the jobs that go wrong
5. VAT£2,165.20
  20% · running £12,991.22
  £2,165.20£12,991.2220%
Total including VAT£12,991.22
Running the business is charged on trade cost plus contingency plus site costs (£8,873.79), not on the work alone. That is the standard basis, and it is what pays for the builder still being there in a year if something fails.
What moves the priceThe same bathroom priced 12 more times, one thing changed each time. £10,671 to £16,965 end to end4 groups
All four bands are drawn on the same scale, so their widths are directly comparable. What the client chooses spans the widest band by a distance; what the builder finds on site is the narrowest, and it is the builder who carries it.
What you choose£12,053 – £16,965
Specification, tiles, a bath, underfloor heating
Premium specification throughout+£3,974
Mid specification throughout+£1,656
Large-format porcelain instead of standard ceramic+£969
Adding a bath alongside the wet room+£936
Electric underfloor heating+£788
Standard shower tray and enclosure instead of a wet room−£938
The age of the house£10,671 – £12,991
Older fabric is slower to work on and carries more contingency
A post-war terrace instead of an Edwardian one−£1,169
A post-2000 property (no asbestos survey required)−£2,320
What is found on opening up£12,991 – £13,534
Nobody knows until the floor is up, and the builder carries it
Moving the toilet (soil stack relocation)+£542
Rotten subfloor found on opening up+£517
The scope itself£11,475 – £12,991
A new bathroom in a room that was not one needs no strip-out
A new bathroom in a room that was not one (no strip-out)−£1,517
Each range is what that one variable can do to the total, with everything else held at this bathroom as priced, £12,991.22. Every figure includes VAT.
What this can't tell youThe subfloor, asbestos, and the shape of your actual room3 unknowns
The subfloor.
Not knowable until the floor is up. If it has gone, this job gains £517, and a builder who quoted without allowing for it is the one who has to have that conversation.
Asbestos.
Any property built before 2000 needs a refurbishment and demolition survey before strip-out. It is a legal hold-point, it is £425.00 here, and most homeowners have never heard of it.
Your actual room.
These figures are for 2.5 × 2 m. A different shape changes the tiling and tanking areas, which are two of the largest lines here.
Basis of the estimate
- Labour hours are based on standard industry productivity rates and assume competent, uninterrupted working. They exclude allowances for adverse weather, material-delivery delays, restricted access beyond that noted, and below-standard productivity.
- The programme assumes a standard working week of 40 hours per operative (Monday to Friday; weekends and public holidays excluded) with a gang of 2. A 30% buffer and fixed curing / drying periods are already included for typical real-world delays.
- This is a cost estimate, not a fixed-price quotation or a guaranteed programme. Actual hours, duration and cost may vary with site conditions, design development and specification changes.
Assumed for this estimate
- Wall height: 2.4m
- Spec tier: standard
- All costs exclude VAT unless otherwise stated
- Contingency applied to build cost only — does not cover professional fees
Common questionsTanking, overhead and profit, and whether this counts as a quote6 answers
How much does a bathroom renovation cost in the UK?
£12,991.22 including VAT for this one: a 5 m² wet room in an Edwardian terrace in south-west London, standard specification. Every line is on this page.
Why is the total so much more than the cost of the work?
The labour and materials actually installed come to £6,781.02, about 52.2% of the bill. The rest is contingency, site costs and certificates, running a building company, and VAT.
Why am I paying for the builder's overhead and profit?
£1,952.23 of this covers insurance, vehicles, tools, the estimating that was free to you, and putting right the jobs that go wrong. A builder without those is not cheaper. They are a different product.
What is tanking, and why does it cost so much?
The waterproof layer under the tiles, 23.9 m² of it at £529.43 here. Most quotes fold it into "tiling" instead of naming it, which is how two prices for the same bathroom end up hundreds of pounds apart.
Why does the age of the house change the price?
Older fabric hides more, so it carries slower labour rates and a bigger contingency. The same bathroom in a post-war terrace prices 9.0% lower than this Edwardian one, and in a post-2000 property 17.9% lower again, partly because no asbestos survey is needed.
Is this a quote?
No. It is an estimate for one specific bathroom, not a fixed price. Real costs move with site conditions, specification and what turns up on opening the floor.

If a number here is wrong, tell us which one.

If you price bathrooms for a living, say which line is off and what you would charge. It goes into the rates the engine runs on.

Where these numbers come from

Structa prices a job task by task against current UK supplier rates and labour constants. This page is one run of it: the same output a builder sends their client.

See a full example quote

Loading…

Real engine output · not an estimate range

How much does a bathroom renovation cost?

A 5 m² wet room, standard specification, in an Edwardian terrace in SW20

£12,991.22

including VAT · typically £11,692–£15,589 once specification and site conditions are known

2.5 × 2 m (5 m²)Wet room · standard spec11 working days on site93.79 labour hours

One real bathroom, priced line by line and published in full. Not a fixed price, but an estimate for this specific room, on 25 August 2026.

93.79 hours is the work, not the calendar.

What it shows

13 of 25 lines are work most quotes never name
£2,109.78 of it, 31.1% of the trade cost. Tanking, isolating services, carting the old bathroom out. Real work, done on every job, invisible on most quotes.
52.2% of the bill is the work itself
The other 47.8% is contingency, skips and certificates, insurance and vans, and VAT.
+30.6% for premium spec, more than anything found on site
What you pick moves it further than what the builder digs up. A rotten subfloor is £517; moving the toilet £542.

The working

Nothing below is rounded or summarised.

All 25 line items£6,781.02 of labour and materials, in the order the work happens25 items
The 13 marked rarely itemised are not extras. They are in the total either way. Naming them is the difference between a quote you can check and a quote you have to trust.
ItemQuantityLabourTotal
1. 01Asbestos R&D survey (pre-2000 properties — legal hold-point before strip-out)£425.00
  1 item · £0.00 labour · £425.00 materials
  1 item£0.00£425.00
2. 02Isolate and cap services (water, gas, electrics)rarely itemised£90.87
  1 item · £80.87 labour · £10.00 materials
  1 item£80.87£90.87
3. 03Protect access route and floors during strip-out (allowance)rarely itemised£60.38
  1 item · £29.38 labour · £31.00 materials
  1 item£29.38£60.38
4. 04Remove existing sanitaryware and fittingsrarely itemised£102.82
  1 item · £102.82 labour · £0.00 materials
  1 item£102.82£102.82
5. 05Hack off existing wall and floor tilingrarely itemised£312.81
  23.9 m² · £294.88 labour · £17.93 materials
  23.9 m²£294.88£312.81
6. 06Bag, barrow and cart waste to skip (internal)rarely itemised£127.99
  1.43 $m^3$ · £84.25 labour · £43.74 materials
  1.43 $m^3$£84.25£127.99
7. 07Plaster patch + skim around strip-out damage (per m²)£137.48
  5.85 m² · £118.27 labour · £19.21 materials
  5.85 m²£118.27£137.48
8. 08Self-levelling compound (floor prep)rarely itemised£81.05
  5 m² · £44.61 labour · £36.43 materials
  5 m²£44.61£81.05
9. 09Bathroom plumbing — no layout changerarely itemised£393.76
  1 item · £242.60 labour · £151.16 materials
  1 item£242.60£393.76
10. 101st fix electrics — bathroom (back-boxes + cable routing for shaver/extractor)rarely itemised£51.86
  1 item · £35.69 labour · £16.17 materials
  1 item£35.69£51.86
11. 11Bathroom lighting — IP44 downlights + driver (supply+fit allowance)£256.70
  1 item · £107.07 labour · £149.63 materials
  1 item£107.07£256.70
12. 12Bathroom tanking — full room (wet room)rarely itemised£529.43
  23.9 m² · £255.90 labour · £273.54 materials
  23.9 m²£255.90£529.43
13. 13Floor tiling — ceramic£356.80
  5 m² · £169.53 labour · £187.28 materials
  5 m²£169.53£356.80
14. 14Wall tiling — standard ceramic£1,281.26
  18.9 m² · £573.36 labour · £707.90 materials
  18.9 m²£573.36£1,281.26
15. 15Wet room former + drain (supply+fit)£667.59
  1 nr · £181.95 labour · £485.64 materials
  1 nr£181.95£667.59
16. 16Shower mixer / valve (supply+fit)£285.65
  1 nr · £60.65 labour · £225.00 materials
  1 nr£60.65£285.65
17. 17WC supply + fit (close-coupled)£292.08
  1 nr · £101.09 labour · £191.00 materials
  1 nr£101.09£292.08
18. 18Basin + pedestal supply + fit£217.87
  1 nr · £80.87 labour · £137.00 materials
  1 nr£80.87£217.87
19. 19Waste traps + tails (sanitaryware connections)rarely itemised£89.78
  1 item · £40.43 labour · £49.35 materials
  1 item£40.43£89.78
20. 202nd fix bathroom — shaver socket + extractor fanrarely itemised£158.43
  1 item · £40.43 labour · £118.00 materials
  1 item£40.43£158.43
21. 21Internal door + frame + ironmongery (bathroom)£214.59
  1 nr · £101.09 labour · £113.50 materials
  1 nr£101.09£214.59
22. 22Bathroom accessories (heated towel rail, mirror, TP holder)£493.88
  1 item · £71.38 labour · £422.50 materials
  1 item£71.38£493.88
23. 23Mist coat (thinned emulsion on new plaster)rarely itemised£28.56
  5.85 m² · £17.19 labour · £11.38 materials
  5.85 m²£17.19£28.56
24. 24Emulsion paint (walls + ceiling)£42.34
  5 m² · £26.44 labour · £15.90 materials
  5 m²£26.44£42.34
25. 25Silicone mastic perimeter seal (sanitaryware + tiles)rarely itemised£82.04
  1 item · £53.54 labour · £28.50 materials
  1 item£53.54£82.04
Trade cost, labour and materials£6,781.02
£2,914.29 of labour against £3,866.76 of materials. 93.79 hours, 3 weeks with a gang of 2, including curing and drying time.
Where the money goes£6,781.02 of work becomes £12,991.225 steps
StepAmountRunning total
1. Trade cost£6,781.02
  Labour and materials on site · running £6,781.02
  £6,781.02£6,781.02Labour and materials on site
2. Contingency£1,017.15
  15.0% of trade cost, set by the age of the house · running £7,798.17
  £1,017.15£7,798.1715.0% of trade cost, set by the age of the house
3. Site costs & fees£1,075.62
  Initial waste removal skip, Site welfare facilities, Insurance covering works in progress, Professional end-of-works clean, Part P electrical certification, Dust protection screen and air scrubber for the room being worked on · running £8,873.79
  £1,075.62£8,873.79Initial waste removal skip, Site welfare facilities, Insurance covering works in progress, Professional end-of-works clean, Part P electrical certification, Dust protection screen and air scrubber for the room being worked on
4. Running the business£1,952.23
  Insurance, vans, tools, the estimating that was free, warranty, the jobs that go wrong · running £10,826.02
  £1,952.23£10,826.02Insurance, vans, tools, the estimating that was free, warranty, the jobs that go wrong
5. VAT£2,165.20
  20% · running £12,991.22
  £2,165.20£12,991.2220%
Total including VAT£12,991.22
Running the business is charged on trade cost plus contingency plus site costs (£8,873.79), not on the work alone. That is the standard basis, and it is what pays for the builder still being there in a year if something fails.
What moves the priceThe same bathroom priced 12 more times, one thing changed each time. £10,671 to £16,965 end to end4 groups
All four bands are drawn on the same scale, so their widths are directly comparable. What the client chooses spans the widest band by a distance; what the builder finds on site is the narrowest, and it is the builder who carries it.
What you choose£12,053 – £16,965
Specification, tiles, a bath, underfloor heating
Premium specification throughout+£3,974
Mid specification throughout+£1,656
Large-format porcelain instead of standard ceramic+£969
Adding a bath alongside the wet room+£936
Electric underfloor heating+£788
Standard shower tray and enclosure instead of a wet room−£938
The age of the house£10,671 – £12,991
Older fabric is slower to work on and carries more contingency
A post-war terrace instead of an Edwardian one−£1,169
A post-2000 property (no asbestos survey required)−£2,320
What is found on opening up£12,991 – £13,534
Nobody knows until the floor is up, and the builder carries it
Moving the toilet (soil stack relocation)+£542
Rotten subfloor found on opening up+£517
The scope itself£11,475 – £12,991
A new bathroom in a room that was not one needs no strip-out
A new bathroom in a room that was not one (no strip-out)−£1,517
Each range is what that one variable can do to the total, with everything else held at this bathroom as priced, £12,991.22. Every figure includes VAT.
What this can't tell youThe subfloor, asbestos, and the shape of your actual room3 unknowns
The subfloor.
Not knowable until the floor is up. If it has gone, this job gains £517, and a builder who quoted without allowing for it is the one who has to have that conversation.
Asbestos.
Any property built before 2000 needs a refurbishment and demolition survey before strip-out. It is a legal hold-point, it is £425.00 here, and most homeowners have never heard of it.
Your actual room.
These figures are for 2.5 × 2 m. A different shape changes the tiling and tanking areas, which are two of the largest lines here.
Basis of the estimate
- Labour hours are based on standard industry productivity rates and assume competent, uninterrupted working. They exclude allowances for adverse weather, material-delivery delays, restricted access beyond that noted, and below-standard productivity.
- The programme assumes a standard working week of 40 hours per operative (Monday to Friday; weekends and public holidays excluded) with a gang of 2. A 30% buffer and fixed curing / drying periods are already included for typical real-world delays.
- This is a cost estimate, not a fixed-price quotation or a guaranteed programme. Actual hours, duration and cost may vary with site conditions, design development and specification changes.
Assumed for this estimate
- Wall height: 2.4m
- Spec tier: standard
- All costs exclude VAT unless otherwise stated
- Contingency applied to build cost only — does not cover professional fees
Common questionsTanking, overhead and profit, and whether this counts as a quote6 answers
How much does a bathroom renovation cost in the UK?
£12,991.22 including VAT for this one: a 5 m² wet room in an Edwardian terrace in south-west London, standard specification. Every line is on this page.
Why is the total so much more than the cost of the work?
The labour and materials actually installed come to £6,781.02, about 52.2% of the bill. The rest is contingency, site costs and certificates, running a building company, and VAT.
Why am I paying for the builder's overhead and profit?
£1,952.23 of this covers insurance, vehicles, tools, the estimating that was free to you, and putting right the jobs that go wrong. A builder without those is not cheaper. They are a different product.
What is tanking, and why does it cost so much?
The waterproof layer under the tiles, 23.9 m² of it at £529.43 here. Most quotes fold it into "tiling" instead of naming it, which is how two prices for the same bathroom end up hundreds of pounds apart.
Why does the age of the house change the price?
Older fabric hides more, so it carries slower labour rates and a bigger contingency. The same bathroom in a post-war terrace prices 9.0% lower than this Edwardian one, and in a post-2000 property 17.9% lower again, partly because no asbestos survey is needed.
Is this a quote?
No. It is an estimate for one specific bathroom, not a fixed price. Real costs move with site conditions, specification and what turns up on opening the floor.

If a number here is wrong, tell us which one.

If you price bathrooms for a living, say which line is off and what you would charge. It goes into the rates the engine runs on.

Where these numbers come from

Structa prices a job task by task against current UK supplier rates and labour constants. This page is one run of it: the same output a builder sends their client.

See a full example quote

How much does a bathroom renovation cost?

What it shows

The working

Basis of the estimate

Assumed for this estimate

If a number here is wrong, tell us which one.

Where these numbers come from

How much does a bathroom renovation cost?

What it shows

The working

Basis of the estimate

Assumed for this estimate

If a number here is wrong, tell us which one.

Where these numbers come from