En Suite Cost: UK Prices to Add an En Suite Bathroom

En suite cost in the UK

Checkatrade’s en suite cost guide prices four en suite projects.

En suite project	Low	High	Average
Adding an ensuite to an existing bedroom	£4,000	£10,000	£7,000
A small ensuite (toilet and basin)	£2,500	£6,000	£4,250
An ensuite with a shower	£4,000	£10,000	£7,000
An ensuite wet room	£5,000	£10,000	£7,500

A small en suite with just a toilet and basin suits a room where space is limited, Checkatrade says, and at £2,500 to £6,000, around £4,250 on average, it costs less than an en suite with a shower or an en suite wet room.

Most homeowners create an en suite by dividing part of an existing bedroom with a new partition wall, and the larger the bedroom, the easier that is, Checkatrade says. It usually means a new room layout, plumbing and drainage, electrical work and fitting the suite.

The trades usually involved in adding an en suite are bathroom fitters, plumbers, electricians, plasterers and tilers, the same guide says. A bathroom fitter’s day rate is £320 to £480, according to Checkatrade’s bathroom fitter costs guide.

Extra costs of adding an en suite

A large part of an en suite’s cost is the work behind the scenes, such as new pipework, drainage, partition walls and ventilation, before any tiling, Checkatrade says. Preparation work can sometimes cost more than the suite itself.

Checkatrade’s other extras for an en suite cover the fittings, the finishes and any structural work.

Other extra	Cost
Fixtures and fittings	£300 to £3,000
Tiling	Around £1,000
New flooring	£800 to £1,600
Structural alterations	£1,000+

What changes the cost of an en suite

The closer an en suite is to the existing plumbing and drainage, the more cost-effective it is, Checkatrade says. The easiest projects have spare floor space and easy access to that plumbing and drainage, and two similar bedrooms can cost very different amounts. The size of the room, the fixtures, the amount of tiling, ventilation, electrical work, flooring, structural alterations and location all change the price as well.

To keep the cost down, Checkatrade suggests staying close to the existing plumbing, keeping the layout simple, choosing standard-sized fixtures, limiting structural alterations and reusing existing services where practical.

Building regulations for an en suite

An en suite puts a bathroom in a room where there was not one before. In that case building regulations approval is likely to be required, the Planning Portal says, so that the room has adequate ventilation and drainage and meets the requirements for structural stability, electrical and fire safety. Any new bathroom or shower room should have a means of extract ventilation to reduce condensation and remove smells, the Planning Portal’s ventilation page says.

Where the en suite will have a bath, a floor of timber joists and boards carries a significant risk of being overloaded once the bath is full of water and in use, the Planning Portal warns. A structural engineer or surveyor can assess the floor and produce the paperwork a building control body will require before the work starts.

Getting quotes for an en suite

Get several itemised quotes and look at each firm’s reviews and previous work, Checkatrade advises. The bathroom fitters we compare across Nottingham include Hallam Interiors in Hucknall, which installs en suites with floor and wall tiling and shows a 3D rendering of the design before work starts. Goldswan Bathrooms in Arnold uses its own team for the plumbing, electrics, tiling, plastering and flooring, and one project manager is your point of contact.

A quote will often include a site survey and planning, fitting labour, plumbing installation, electrical work, ventilation installation, installing the sanitaryware, waterproofing where required, and testing and commissioning, Checkatrade says. Possible exclusions are structural alterations, decorating, Building Control fees where applicable and flooring upgrades beyond the agreed specification.

Most en suite installations take 1 to 3 weeks, Checkatrade says, and a small, straightforward en suite may be quicker, while structural alterations, drainage work or a wet room take longer.