Does this seem reasonable for an elderly-friendly bathroom in London?

is it a big room? It can all add up very quickly.

Just because it meets the needs of older people doesn’t mean it won’t also be a stylish bathroom

Make sure that the shower is completely level access - not even a small step into it and that a wheeled shower chair can fit in through the opening

make sure they will be able to use the controls on the wash /dry toilet (have they tried one? Some people hate it!

I would definitely get a couple more quotes

My FIL was approved for grant for bathroom but was going to take a year. One of their approved tradesmen was the plumber my FIL used anyway so he did It. It was £8k excluding vat as he had disabilities. Sadly he only used it a handful of times as he died fairly soon after it was finished. £18k does sound a lot. I'd have thought nearer 12k.

£20k for my plumber to do DF's bathroom three years ago. Stripped right back to brick. Included new floorboards as old were rotten. Make sure loo is comfort height. Don't put heated towel rail near the shower exit, the temptation to hold on to it is great and they may burn themselves. Also, a regular, non fixed shower chair is better as it gives more flexibility especially when they need to be showered by someone. We have contract non slip flooring (the type used in clinical settings), very practical and hard-wearing. If you get high end grab rails and design it properly, you'd never know it is accessible. We also have a corner bottle basket that has a grab rail function, it just doesn't look like one. It's well worth paying for, the difference it made to us cannot be overstated. Make sure there's enough room for mobility aids such as walking frames etc.

We paid about that for a complete refit of our bathroom but used a local firm which included the design work and a lot of input. It was expensive but there was a lot of moving around to do. Plumbing and walls which had been put up to hide pipes and more. Fantastic attention to detail and every detail thought of and looked after by them. I basically only had to put in towels and a loo roll.

Please, it's not an 'elderly bathroom' it's an accessible bathroom. They may never need some of the extra features but they are sensible to consider them . And if it's their money they can have what they like!

My parents' bathroom cost £6k. But they kept the basin & toilet. Bath was removed and replaced with a shower with a low level shower tray & a seat, grab rails, new non-slip vinyl flooring and ceramic tiles on the wall which had to be stripped back to the brick.

Do they need to have so much done?

The organisation of it is no doubt factored in.

We've done a few bathrooms recently and been to various suppliers to choose tiles, white items, taps and accessories.

This keeps the cost down and we chose a super duper shower and a cheap bath (we don't use the bath much).

If FIL is not able to get things like this sorted and delivered on time it costs.

BTW, I hope they have another toilet in the house!

This week City Plumbing has announced a 19% price increase for some plastic piping. My bathroom installer has encouraged me to firm up
my decisions sooner rather than later for some refurb work.

Either a hotel or if they want to stay a commode!

My DPs resisted getting a walk in shower for their downstairs bathroom. This resulted in at least two preventable falls and both eventually having to be hand-washed by carers. They are now in a care home which costs £8000 a month each, I believe a walk in shower could have delayed that by a few months.
Does it sound expensive- well yes, but equally is it absolutely necessary- also yes. Maybe you could google some local firms for reviews and send them out to get a couple more quotes. But honestly I wouldn’t hold the work up.

Suggest contacting your local council or social services there should be a department that does a health assessment & some places give out grants for this type of work to be carried out.

I live in London - £18k for what you've described is about on the money, possibly slightly on the high side but not outrageous.
You could possibly knock off a couple of grand if you shopped around but London prices are very high and have practically doubled since lockdown.
A friend's small bathroom refurb cost £12k with just bath (not shower) and pretty basic fittings, tiled floor, simple towel rail using existing plumbing.

Also this may be of use
https://www.lgcdecorators.co.uk/how-much-does-a-new-bathroom-cost-in-london/

£18k does sound like a lot, although I can see how it could add up in London with all the work involved. Floor levelling, moving pipework and fitting an electric shower can be surprisingly expensive.
I also wouldn’t worry too much about the bathroom looking “elderly-friendly”. You can make it safe without making it look clinical. A walk-in shower, discreet grab rails, a shower seat and non-slip flooring can all be incorporated quite nicely.
The heated towel rail is something I’d question too if there’s already a radiator nearby. If the aim is to keep costs sensible, I’d focus the money on the things that genuinely improve safety and accessibility rather than adding unnecessary fittings.

Make sure the toilet and vanity unit are wall mounted and if a cupboard that too it makes it so much easier to clean. Personally completely tiled too. I use a speed mop to clean walls and floor. Very easy.
Something else to consider is that all pipework is hidden thus ensuring no need to step into shower. When we had our bathroom done a year ago so many bathroom fitters considered hiding pipes would be too difficult. One even talked about taking the pipework outside running down the side of house and digging up paving to connect with drain. He didn’t get the job. The person we gave the job to said nothing is insurmountable it just might cost a bit more. We ended up with a bathroom that we are extremely pleased with. Just to note we sourced all our own sanitary wear etc thus keeping the costs down.
sorry very late to the post.

I’m having my bathroom redone next year, not specifically for elderly or disabled people but I do want a walk in shower level with the floor and a higher toilet. It will probably involve changing to position of the toilet and sink but still on outside wall and accessible to drains. Then new tiles and flooring etc.

Ive been told to budget £20k to cover everything, I thought it would be around £10k based on the £20k I spent 2 years ago for a brand new kitchen!

Im not based in London but in an expensive part of the NW.

They could save money by fitting a larger walk in shower rather than a wet room. It could still accommodate a shower seat. With a wet room, , as previous posters say, the floor will need modifying, tanking etc. The specialist bidet will be ££ and will cost a lot to fix if it goes wrong. Do they really need that - very few people have those? Add in 10% contingency and check and double check the company and contract. Ask to see their insurance and to see some of their recent work.

We are in Essex and have had our bathroom replaced this year. Our bathroom was very overdue for a renovation. Floor was rotten. A lot of mould in the ceiling. Needed new floor and ceiling. Extractor fan fitted . Spotlights . Floor standing vanity. New toilet and shower cubicle 900mm x 900mm square. New heated towel rail fed off the heating system. Fancy mirror with light Bluetooth connection. Floor tiled, half walls tiled and painting. The whole job came to £10k materials and labour.

Incidently my mother needed a new toilet last year. I ordered her a comfort height toilet from Twyfords. To supply and fit that alone was about £600. There was very limited choice for disabled height toilets. I imagine one with a bidet feature would be even more difficult to find and much more money.

Do your parents really need the pull down grab rails? Would a toilet frame suffice?

£18k does sound too heavy

I agree - we had two bathrooms stripped and refitted, floors levelled for walk in showers, walls/showers retiled. All in they cost £18-20k each 2-3 years ago. Pipes n parts are massively increasing in cost and labour has followed. Only way to tell if it is fair in PIL’s case it to get at least 3 quotes and compare.

A specialist toilet will cost a few grand so cost is reasonable.

It sounds to me like they are doing too much with this - get advice from Age Concern or the occupational therapist - surely a walk in shower with various aids
is all that is needed. Then get a local quote or
two. Do not rush into this.

I had similar amounts of work done on my bathroom 7 years ago and it cost £11k for the work plus the cost of the bath/shower/sink/toilet which I purchased separately. I’m outside London. It took around 2 weeks to complete.

Are either of them in receipt of Attendance Allowance?