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Ealing W5 · Bathroom renovation

Bathroom renovation in Ealing

One room, planned around pipes, flues and listed interiors

This page plans one room in W5’s houses and flats: how the waste and extract can leave the room without a new pipe on a front elevation, what The Grove’s Article 4 direction and listing add, how Ealing building control treats the work and, if Ealing Council is your landlord, what it asks first. A standalone bathroom is welcome, from a loft shower room to a refit in a 1930s block.

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Serving Ealing from our Hampstead studio · NW3 6DN
020 7101 3168

Start here

Bathroom renovation in Ealing at a glance

Two council records show how added soil pipes have been judged in W5. Ealing Council’s July 2020 update for the town-centre enclave records that three houses on The Grove were taken off the local list when the council reviewed it in 2014, because of loss of garden and the “detrimental addition of soil pipes to front elevation”. In March 2008 the Brentham Garden Estate appraisal listed plastic soil vent pipes and boiler flues among the modern alterations damaging its buildings. Neither is a rule, but together they explain why the waste route is drawn first, inside the house wherever possible; check the address against the conservation-area map.

Ealing Council: Ealing Town Centre Conservation Area (residential enclave) update addendum, July 2020 · Ealing Council: Brentham Garden Estate Conservation Area Character Appraisal, March 2008 · Ealing Council: Brentham Garden Estate Conservation Area (W5)

For the whole area, including conservation areas, permissions and working hours, read our Ealing renovation guide.

Approved guide prices

What does a bathroom renovation cost in Ealing?

A typical bathroom renovation in Ealing costs £10,000–£30,000 excluding VAT. The final price depends on the scope, the specification and the complexity of the room, and a fixed written price follows the visit and the design.

Scope of workTypical cost
Typical bathroom renovation£10,000–£30,000

The figure excludes VAT. A standalone bathroom gets its own room-specific quotation; try the cost calculator for a first figure.

The buildings

Where bathrooms sit: decisions from the council’s register

Ealing Council’s planning register shows how single bathroom proposals here were decided. Each is one decision at its date, cited to the register search page, not a rule for your home.

In 2005 the council issued a lawful development certificate confirming that converting part of a loft bedroom into a bathroom, at a house on Haven Lane, was permitted development; Building Regulations were a separate matter. If a dormer goes in too, in a conservation area, the council’s March 2023 Generic Management Plan asks for care with any lengthened soil vent pipe, carrying it inside the roof void to a point well away from the top of the dormer window. The 2020 Haven Green update also noted flues and soil pipes projecting in roofs.

Ealing Council: search for planning applications (the public planning register) · Ealing Council: Generic Management Plan for Conservation Areas, March 2023 · Ealing Council: Haven Green Conservation Area update addendum, July 2020

In 2013 the council granted listed building consent for replacement timber sash windows to the bathroom and hallway at a listed house on Castlebar Road. At a listed building on The Grove, a listed building consent application that included relocating bathroom fittings, doorways and soil waste pipes was not decided in time; on appeal against non-determination it was allowed with conditions in 2020.

Ealing Council: search for planning applications (the public planning register)

Not every bathroom here serves one household. In 2021 the council decided that installing internal bathrooms in the non-self-contained bedsitting rooms of a building on Florence Road was “Not Development”, so no planning permission was needed; licensing and the HMO direction are separate questions. In 2019 it granted listed building consent for partitions and a door opening to make a disabled patients’ WC at a listed building on The Mall, and in 2001 consent for two new en-suite bathrooms, with their drainage and pipework, at Ealing Abbey on Charlbury Grove.

Ealing Council: search for planning applications (the public planning register) · Ealing Council: Article 4 directions removing HMO permitted development rights

Permissions and local rules

Local checks for a W5 bathroom

Soil and vent pipes at The Grove

Does a new soil pipe at The Grove need permission?

Within the direction’s area, yes. The Article 4 direction Ealing Council made on 23 January 2013 for The Grove area of the Ealing Town Centre Conservation Area withdraws Part 1 Class G, so planning permission is needed to install, alter or replace a chimney flue or a soil and vent pipe on any house in its area, on any elevation. No confirmation date appears on the council’s copy, which it lists all the same, and the plan’s street labels cannot be read, so confirm with the council that the house is inside it before a stack is moved.

Ealing Council: Article 4 direction for The Grove, Ealing Town Centre, made 23 January 2013 (scanned PDF) · Ealing Council: Article 4 directions

Pipes and flues in the other conservation areas

What about a pipe on a house outside The Grove?

In a conservation area, the council’s March 2023 Generic Management Plan says new soil and waste pipes should go inside where possible, outside stacks that branch untidily should be avoided, and balanced flues should be small and discreetly sited. The 2020 Mount Park update found protruding soil pipes on front elevations, though not a significant problem there. The register lists a house on Brentham Way under both the Brentham Garden Estate and Montpelier Park conservation areas, so check the address; in 2001, before the 2023 plan existed, the council approved an additional soil stack on its front elevation.

Ealing Council: Generic Management Plan for Conservation Areas, March 2023 · Ealing Council: Mount Park Conservation Area update addendum, July 2020 · Ealing Council: search for planning applications (the public planning register)

Listed buildings: the inside counts

Which bathroom changes in a listed building need consent?

More than you might expect. Ealing Council’s listed buildings page explains that listing covers the whole building, interior and exterior alike, along with anything fixed to it, and that altering one inside or out without first obtaining the consents it needs is a criminal offence, whether or not the owner knew of the listing. The council’s 2023 conservation-area plan repeats that changes inside a listed building need listed building consent. The register decisions above show bathroom windows, relocated bathroom fittings and partitions for a WC going through that process.

Ealing Council: listed buildings · Ealing Council: Generic Management Plan for Conservation Areas, March 2023 · Historic England: listed-building consent

Building control and the drains

What does Ealing building control look at in a bathroom?

Ealing’s overview of the Building Regulations says bath and shower rooms and WCs must have adequate ventilation, and its guidance counts sanitary pipework and drainage as controlled services and fittings. In its example inspection plans for an extension and a loft conversion, a check of above-ground drainage, with drain tests witnessed, comes before completion. On drains, the council’s page says owners and landlords are responsible up to the point where the pipe joins another property’s drainage, that Thames Water maintains sewers and lateral drains, and that repairs and new drainage must meet the building regulations.

Ealing Council: building control, the regulations · Ealing Council: building control, further information and guidance · Ealing Council: building control site inspections · Ealing Council: drains and sewers

Working hours, skips, parking and the conservation area maps for the whole area are in our Ealing guide. Local guidance checked ; requirements depend on the address, the building and the complete proposal.

What the work covers

The work a W5 bathroom renovation takes in

The waste route

The drawing starts with drainage: where the WC, bath, basin and shower will discharge and how each pipe reaches the stack, before any fitting is picked. Where the room moves, the fall to the stack decides what is possible. In a conservation area the route is planned inside the building, with boxing-in and access panels shown, so that nothing new goes on an outside wall until the controls for the address have been checked.

Ealing Council: Generic Management Plan for Conservation Areas, March 2023

Extract and air

Every bath or shower room needs adequate ventilation, so the extract route is settled with the layout: through a wall, through the roof or along a ducted run to a less visible elevation. The outlet position goes on the drawing so it can be checked against the controls for the address. If Ealing Council is your landlord, its repairs table marks air vents in walls as needing permission, so that request goes in with the rest.

Ealing Council: building control, the regulations · Ealing Council: leaseholder repairs and responsibilities, for council leaseholders

Adaptations

If a member of the household needs adaptations, the occupational therapist’s recommendations shape the scope. Ealing’s Disabled Facilities Grant page treats recommended works as eligible when they are necessary, appropriate, reasonable and practical, given the age and condition of the property, and its list includes providing a bath or shower room, a WC or a wash hand basin. Extensions, garage conversions and outbuildings come into consideration only where no feasible adaptation fits within the existing footprint.

Ealing Council: Disabled Facilities Grant

How we work

How we run a Ealing bathroom renovation

  1. Visit

    We see the room, trace where the stack runs, and check which floor it is on and what lies beneath.

  2. Survey

    The drainage falls, the extract route and the floor build-up at the door are measured before a layout is drawn.

  3. Design

    The layout, waterproofing and storage are drawn; where a floor or wall changes, our own architects and structural engineers design it.

  4. Price

    You receive a fixed written price once the design and fittings are agreed.

  5. Installation

    The dates, and any days without a working bathroom, are agreed before work starts.

  6. Handover

    Testing, then care notes for the finishes and fittings. Completed work carries a 12-month defects-rectification period under the JCT contract terms.

Real projects, clearly located

Examples of our bathroom renovation work elsewhere in London

None of these projects is in Ealing. Each card names where the work was done, so you can judge the finish and the approach before you brief your own.

Your brief

Before you ask for a quotation

  1. Say where the room is

    Tell us the floor, what lies under the bathroom and where the soil stack runs, inside or on an outside wall. Say whether the building is listed, in a conservation area or at The Grove, and whether it is a house, a flat in a divided house or a flat in a block.

  2. Photograph the pipes from outside

    Photograph every pipe, flue and extract grille the bathroom uses on the walls and roof, from the street and from the garden. From them we can judge early whether the room can drain and be ventilated without a new pipe on the front.

  3. Say who else has a say

    Send the lease, or tell us if Ealing Council is your landlord, and say if a member of the household needs adaptations. Both decide what has to be agreed or applied for before any work is booked.

Ready to take the next step? Send the address and a short outline of the work.

Book a free feasibility visit

Questions before you begin

Bathroom renovation in Ealing: questions

Can I book you for a standalone bathroom renovation in Ealing?

Yes. A standalone bathroom renovation is a job we take on by itself: an en-suite in a Mount Park house, a shower room in one of the 1930s blocks or a family bathroom in a divided house near the town centre. Mention at the start any listing, a room in the roof or a pipe that may need to run outside, as each of these can add a step before the work begins.

I hold a council lease. Can I replace or move my bathroom?

If Ealing Council is your landlord, the council will not ask you to seek permission for a minor improvement such as replacing the existing kitchen or bathroom, but relocating either one needs its permission. The Building Regulations apply whichever you choose. The council’s repairs table puts extractor fans, floor tiles, floorboards and internal condensation and mould on you, and keeps the joists and the structure of party and internal walls as its own.

Ealing Council: improvements and alterations to your home, for council leaseholders · Ealing Council: leaseholder repairs and responsibilities, for council leaseholders · When Building Regulations approval is needed

What should I check for a bathroom in a lower-ground room?

Drainage and flooding come first. Ealing’s Development Management DPD, adopted in 2013, puts the borough’s flood risk down mainly to surface water and sewers, and requires all development, even on land outside a defined floodplain, to ensure it is not vulnerable to surface water, sewer or groundwater flooding. For a room below ground, ask early whether the fittings can drain by gravity, and look up the address’s long-term flood risk on GOV.UK.

Ealing Council: Development Management DPD, adopted 10 December 2013 · Check long-term flood risk in England

Who can apply for help with an adapted bathroom?

According to Ealing’s Disabled Facilities Grant page, referrals should come from the council’s Social Services Occupational Therapy Service or Ealing’s NHS partners, and major adaptations are arranged by its Repairs and Adaptations Service, which incorporates Ealing Home Improvement Agency. The applicant must own the home or hold a long-term tenancy and mean to live there for at least five years; different arrangements apply where the home belongs to Ealing Council.

Ealing Council: Disabled Facilities Grant

When can bathroom work start once building control has the application?

Once a valid Building Regulations application is in, Ealing building control says work may begin after 24 hours; on a Full Plans application, though, anything started before approval goes ahead at the owner’s risk, and controllable work with no application at all would be logged as a contravention. From 1 February 2026 the council inspects on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9am to 4pm, and the surveyor who visits sets the final level of inspection needed before a completion certificate.

Ealing Council: building control, further information and guidance · Ealing Council: building control site inspections

Can a refit remove the only bath or shower?

Only if another takes its place. The council’s summary of the Regulations requires every dwelling to have a fixed bath or shower with hot and cold water, so swapping a bath for a shower still meets it, while a plan that leaves the home with neither does not. Tell us if a second bathroom is planned too, so the layout can be checked as a whole.

Ealing Council: building control, the regulations

How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Ealing?

A typical bathroom renovation in Ealing costs £10,000–£30,000 excluding VAT. The final price depends on the scope, specification and complexity of the project. We give a fixed written price after the visit and the design.

Book a free feasibility visit

Talk to us about your Ealing bathroom

Tell us the address and what you want to change in your Ealing bathroom. We reply within one working day, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Or call 020 7101 3168. We serve Ealing from our studio at Unit 3, Palace Court, 250 Finchley Road, London NW3 6DN.

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