Bathroom Renovation Cost Guide: What to Expect in 2026

- Bathroom fitter: £200–£350/day (main trades person)
- Plumber: £150–£300/day (pipe work, connections)
- Tiler: £200–£400/day (walls and floor)
- Electrician: £200–£350/day (lighting, fan, shaver socket)

A typical mid-range bathroom takes 1–2 weeks to complete, so labour alone can account for £2,000–£5,000 of the total cost.

1. Keep the existing layout — Moving the toilet, bath or basin means re-routing waste pipes, which adds significant cost
2. Choose mid-range sanitaryware — Brands like Roca and Ideal Standard offer excellent quality without the designer price tag
3. Tile smartly — Full-height tiling is expensive. Consider tiling key areas (shower, splashback) and painting the rest
4. Get multiple quotes — On TradeMatch, you can compare up to 5 quotes from vetted bathroom fitters for free

A bathroom compresses drainage falls, electrical zones, waterproofing and tiling setting-out into roughly four square metres, and the parts that fail are the ones nobody can see once it is finished. That makes it one of the few rooms where how the work is contracted matters as much as who does it.

Hiring trades individually — fitter, plumber, tiler, electrician — gives you the most control over price, but you own the coordination and the argument when something does not line up. A full-service firm such as London Renovate, which handles bathroom design, supply and installation as a single package, removes that gap: one party is responsible whether a defect turns out to be the fitter's or the supplier's. Whichever route you take, ask specifically who is tanking the wet zone and which waterproofing system they are using — it is the single most important thing that happens in the room and the only one you will never see again.