Britain's Bathrooms - When, What and DIY

Victorian Plumbing look at the 'when' and 'what' of Britain's bathrooms, along with our propensity to indulge in some DIY.

Key Points

We wanted to find out what kinds of life events can be linked to people making changes to their bathrooms. We were able to break it down into six main categories that can prompt a purchase, as pictured.

Home Movers, along with First Time Buyers, are the main buyers when it comes to the bathroom, which makes sense given that the new home might not match the new owners' tastes.

Those who have paid off a mortgage or have just retired are the quickest to actually make a purchase, on average buying just 20 days after entering into the market.

The slowest to buy, despite being the second highest in terms of actually buying, are First Time Buyers, perhaps wanting to make a change but being a bit cash-strapped after getting onto the property ladder.

As seen above, it's showers that take first place over baths. Although it would be easy to paint the nation as much more in favour of showers, it's worth pointing out that they can also be featured in en-suites/wet rooms, whereas it's rare for a house to have more than one bath.

As for bidets - long misunderstood, and still (mis)used by most Brits as an effective way of getting rid of sandy toes after a day at the beach, its cachet is rising - year on year, sales are up 44%.

As shown above, 20% of all home improvement work involves making changes to the bathroom. The more the better we say, unless people are trying to install an avocado bath, which we cannot condone.

Installing a new shower or tile mural of a beloved family pet can be tricky, so we wanted to know which regions take on the work themselves and which ones take the more relaxed approach.

Those in the Midlands take the crown for being most willing when it comes to DIY. People from the region were twice as likely to opt for DIY than pay someone.

For paying, it was Londoners who were the most willing, with 40% more people opting to pay rather than do the work themselves.

For paying, it was Londoners who were the most willing, with 40% more people opting to pay rather than do the work themselves.