Bathroom Renovation Borough
Bathroom and wet-room refurbishment in Borough, tanked, plumbed and tiled by one team.
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- London guide: £6,000 to £20,000+
- 10 to 15 working days on site
- Free design visit, itemised quote
GS Renovation renovates bathrooms and en-suites across Borough and SE1, making the most of the compact spaces found in its flats and few terraced houses. We handle waterproofing, drainage, tiling and heating as one job, on homes from near the South Bank to the streets stretching towards Elephant and Castle.
In Borough, a full bathroom refit typically costs £6,000 to £20,000 or more (indicative London ranges, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Borough: we carry the tanking, plumbing and tiling as one contract, with the electrics certified by a registered electrician.
Price guide
| Work | Indicative London range |
|---|---|
| Bathroom renovation, full refit | £6,000 to £20,000+ |
Indicative London ranges (MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026), not a quotation. Prices checked September 2026. Full breakdown: Bathroom Renovation Cost.
Quick estimate for Borough
Borough range: choose above
How the job runs
- Free design visit at your Borough home and an itemised quote.
- Strip-out, then first-fix plumbing and electrics.
- Tanking to the wet areas, then tiling.
- Sanitaryware and second fix, with notifiable electrics certified by a registered electrician. Typically 10 to 15 working days on site.
Space-saving bathrooms in Borough homes
Bathrooms in Borough flats are often compact rooms placed around the shared soil stack, so clever layout matters more than anything. We plan walk-in showers, wall-hung basins and concealed cisterns to free up floor space, and we can create a compact en-suite off a main bedroom where the plumbing and the lease allow. Working within the tight dimensions of these SE1 homes is exactly the sort of problem we solve every week.
Getting the services right in a flat takes care. We reroute or upgrade the waste to the shared soil stack, which is not always where you would want it, and we add proper mechanical ventilation, ducted outside, to keep condensation off the walls. Underfloor heating is a popular addition, warming the room and removing the need for a bulky radiator in a bathroom where every centimetre counts.
Housing in Borough
On the valuation list Borough counts about 12,140 homes, 94% flats and 6% houses; 18% predate 1919, 3% are interwar and 73% post-war. A bathroom in a flat in Borough sits over a neighbour's ceiling, so tanking comes first, which matters here because most homes are flats.
Turning a spare room into an en-suite in a Borough flat
In Borough 94% of homes are flats, and one common bathroom project is an en-suite formed from part of a bedroom or a box room. That is notifiable work. Southwark's final fees and charges schedule sets a building control charge for installing a new WC, shower or utility, so the en-suite goes on a building regulations application covering drainage, ventilation and electrics. The completion certificate is the document a buyer's solicitor asks for, and it is far easier to get now than later.
The age of the block decides how hard the drainage is. In a Borough flat built in 2000 or later, which is 50% of homes, the soil stack sits in a riser and the new waste must reach it through the floor void or a raised plinth. In the 18% built before 1919, the stack may be old cast iron on an outside wall with timber floors to cross. We trace the route on the first visit and set the shower position around it.
Waterproofing and wet rooms in SE1
Reliable waterproofing is the foundation of any bathroom we build in Borough. Before a single tile goes on, we tank the wet areas thoroughly, sealing the substrate so water cannot reach the floor and walls behind. This matters especially in a wet room, where the whole floor drains, and it protects both your home and the neighbours below in a block of flats.
Once the room is properly tanked we tile to a high standard, fit the shower, sanitaryware and heating, and finish the ventilation and lighting. Notifiable bathroom electrics are certified by a registered electrician under Part P or notified to building control, which we arrange for you. Whether you want a full wet room, a walk-in shower or a family bathroom that suits the character of your home, we deliver it watertight and built to last.
- Complete bathroom design and planning
- Bespoke vanity units and storage
- Pressure and leak testing before any tiling starts
VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for Borough & Southwark Street and Southwark St George's. Counts rounded by the VOA.
The GS Renovation Difference in Borough
Borough homeowners choose GS Renovation because we handle the bathroom completely, from tanking and drainage to tiling, heating and ventilation, with the electrics notified for you. Our founder's 30+ years on the tools means we know how to waterproof a bathroom above a neighbour's ceiling and how to fit real comfort into the compact spaces Borough flats provide.
Saiid did a complete refurbishment of our small bathroom. This involved ripping out the existing bath/shower, basin, toilet, pipework, and tiles and…
My husband and I are extremely pleased with the work. The standard of the work is outstanding and Saiid has a great eye for detail and will not leave…
George always kept to commitments and arrived on time. He offered helpful suggestions during his initial visit and promptly provided a reasonably…
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Bathroom Renovation Borough
What does the bathroom renovation quotation for a Borough home cover?
The bathroom renovation quotation for a Borough home covers the whole job through to sign-off, typically within £6,000 to £20,000 or more (indicative). It lists the structural work, the following trades, Part P certification for any new circuit or work in the bath and shower zones, and the making good at SE1, with any Part P electrical certificate shown as its own line. GS Renovation issues it in writing so you have something to hold us to.
Can you fit a wet room in the small bathroom of my Borough terrace?
Yes. In Borough's few terraces, a compact bathroom, often in the rear closet wing, can become a walk-in wet room. The key is thorough tanking so water cannot reach the timber and solid walls, plus proper drainage and ventilation. We handle the waterproofing, tiling, heating and the notifiable electrics, delivering a watertight room that makes the most of a tight SE1 space.
How long will a Borough flat bathroom refit take?
About 10 to 15 working days. Building working hours and water isolation at shared valves can affect the programme, so the managing agent is told the dates. The order is strip-out, first fix, falls for the waste, the tray, tanking and then tiling, with each layer given time to set.
Can I have a wet room in my Borough flat on a concrete floor?
Usually, but the falls have to be formed. A wet room floor slopes to the drain, and on a concrete slab that means a screed laid to falls or a sunken former, which raises the floor unless the slab can be recessed. The whole area is tanked before tiling. The lease may need the freeholder's consent and sound insulation kept.
Can my Borough flat bathroom move to where the second bedroom is?
Often not. The toilet and shower need to reach the shared soil stack by gravity, and a bedroom on the far side of the flat may be too far away. Some leases also forbid a bathroom placed over a neighbour's living room. The freeholder's consent is needed before any bathroom moves, so check the lease first.
Is there enough water pressure for a good shower in my Borough flat?
It depends on the floor you are on and the hot water system. Upper floors of blocks can have lower mains pressure unless the building has booster pumps, and a combi boiler limits flow if two taps run at once. The pressure and flow are measured at survey, and the shower is chosen to suit them rather than the other way round.
Can an en-suite added by a previous owner of a Borough flat be signed off?
Yes, by regularisation. Southwark Council's online form lets applicants begin a building regulations application as a building notice, full plans or regularisation. The inspector will want to see the waste connection, the extractor and the electrics, so panels and boxing may need opening. It is better to deal with this during a bathroom refit, when the room is stripped anyway, than during a sale.
Does a new bathroom in a Borough flat need the freeholder's consent as well?
Usually. In Borough 94% of homes are flats, and a new bathroom connects to a stack the building owns and can put a wet room over somebody else's bedroom. A lease will often require the freeholder's licence to alter for that, and the freeholder's surveyor may want drawings of the drainage and the waterproofing. Apply for the licence alongside the building regulations application, because neither approval replaces the other.
Is a bathroom in a Borough flat above a commercial unit built any differently?
The floor is. Where a Borough flat sits over a shop or restaurant, the bathroom floor is the ceiling of a business, and the site describes the housing here as modern and post-war flats among older commercial buildings. A leak there can close the business below, and waste pipes may run through its ceiling void. We tank the whole floor rather than the shower area only, and agree access to the ceiling below before any waste is rerouted.
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