Bathroom Remodel Financing in Ireland: Your Options

Homeowner reviewing bathroom renovation costs

Most Irish homeowners pay for a bathroom remodel in one of three ways: savings, a personal or home improvement loan, or, in narrower cases, a grant. A loan from a credit union or a bank is the most common route for a full renovation. The right choice depends on your budget, how quickly you want to start and what you qualify for. This guide covers each option, with a worked repayment example, the grants that exist and a checklist for comparing offers.

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TL;DR

Budget first. Irish bathroom remodels commonly run from about €5,000 to €15,000 at low-to-mid range, and a 10% to 20% contingency is sensible.
Credit unions and banks both lend for home improvements. By law, credit union interest cannot exceed 12.68% APR, and bank home improvement loans typically run from €2,000 to €75,000 over 1 to 10 years.
Compare APR, term, fees and total repayment, not just the monthly figure.
Grants rarely cover a standard bathroom upgrade. They apply mainly to accessibility adaptations and vacant or derelict properties.
Get a fixed written quote before you apply, so the loan matches the real cost.

What a bathroom remodel costs, and why it sets your financing
Your main financing options
What a loan costs: a worked example
How to compare offers
Grants and state supports
Our perspective
How to save money before you borrow
Work with a fixed scope
Plan your remodel with Plan B Bathrooms
A simple step-by-step plan
FAQ
Sources

What a bathroom remodel costs, and why it sets your financing

You can’t pick a loan until you know the figure you are borrowing. The Irish Examiner’s renovation budgeting advice puts bathrooms at €5,000 to €15,000 at the low-to-mid range. The same piece recommends a contingency of 10% to 20% and three quotes for high-ticket work.

What moves a bathroom between the bottom and the top of that range:

Layout changes. Keeping the toilet, basin and shower where they are is cheapest. Moving waste pipes means lifting floors and opening walls.
Size and tiling. Floor-to-ceiling tiling in a large room costs far more than half-height tiling in a small one.
Fittings. A walk-in shower, a heated towel rail, underfloor heating and a vanity unit each add a line to the quote.
The house itself. Older homes often hide rotten subfloors, old pipework or poor ventilation. Dublin work can also cost more because of access, parking and trade demand.
Specification. Selfbuild advises choosing high-quality mid-range fittings over very expensive pieces, and spending where you feel it most: the shower, showerhead and taps.

A practical rule: borrow against a written, itemised quote plus your contingency, not against a rough guess. If you borrow too little and the job overruns, you end up funding the gap on a credit card.

Your main financing options

Savings

Paying from savings avoids interest entirely. It is also the slowest route if you need a full renovation now. A common compromise is to put down savings for part of the job and borrow only the balance, which shortens the loan and cuts the total interest.

Credit union home improvement loans

Credit unions are not-for-profit, member-owned lenders. By law, interest on their loans cannot exceed 12.68% APR. Rates are set locally, so they differ from one credit union to the next. The same source notes that members can repay early or increase repayments without penalty, and that most offer an interest rebate.

You normally need to be a member, and many credit unions ask you to have saved with them for a period. Credit unions may also offer smaller loans than banks, which suits a modest refresh. Some credit unions publish tiered rates, with a higher rate for smaller amounts and a lower rate for larger renovation loans. Check your own credit union’s current rate card, because these change.

Bank and finance company loans

Banks, building societies and finance companies also lend for home improvements. One major bank’s home improvement loan lets you borrow between €2,000 and €75,000 over 1 to 10 years, on terms current as of its published rate date. That larger ceiling matters if your project includes more than the bathroom, such as a new kitchen or flooring.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) says a personal loan repayment covers that month’s interest plus part of the original amount, so the balance falls over time.

Other routes

Credit card. Fine for a small item you will clear within weeks. It is expensive for a whole remodel.
Top-up on a mortgage. This can suit larger projects, but you secure more debt against your home and usually over a long term. Speak to your mortgage lender or an independent adviser before going this way.
Staged payments. Many contractors take a deposit and stage payments. This is not finance, but it spreads your cash outlay across the job.

What a loan costs: a worked example

Take a €12,000 remodel, which sits in the middle of the range above. The figures below are my own illustrative calculation, not an offer, and use the quoted APR as a simple monthly-compounded rate over 5 years.

Rate (APR)	Monthly repayment	Total repaid	Total interest
8%	about €243	about €14,600	about €2,600
12.68% (credit union legal cap)	about €271	about €16,260	about €4,260

Three lessons from this table:

A few percentage points of APR changes the total cost by well over €1,000 on a project this size.
A longer term lowers the monthly payment but raises total interest.
If a loan has no early-repayment penalty, paying extra when you can is the cheapest way to cut the bill.

Your own rate depends on the lender and your circumstances, so use their calculator for real figures.

How to compare offers

The CCPC advises comparing interest rates, loan terms and total costs, and checking for set-up fees, early-repayment fees and charges for extra repayments. It notes that bank or building society set-up fees may be between €0 and €75. Put each offer side by side on these points:

APR, not the headline rate. APR is the standard way to compare the yearly cost.
Term and monthly repayment. Choose a payment you could still manage if your income dipped.
Total repayable. The single most honest number.
Fees. Set-up, late payment, early settlement.
Flexibility. Can you overpay? Can you repay in full early without penalty?
Rebates. Some credit unions pay an interest rebate at year end.

Be aware that approval is never guaranteed. Lenders assess your income, existing debts, and credit history through the Central Credit Register, plus the purpose of the loan. Avoid applying to many lenders at once without checking how each one searches your record. If your finances are tight or you already have several debts, talk to MABS, the free money advice service, before borrowing more.

Grants and state supports

A standard bathroom upgrade does not qualify for a grant. Supports exist for specific situations.

Accessibility adaptations

If someone in your household has a disability or mobility need, the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People helps with works that make a home more suitable for them. It is administered by local authorities, so applications go to your county council: Kildare County Council, or the relevant Dublin council. Check the current maximum and the means rules on the gov.ie page, because published figures differ between pages and the scheme is updated from time to time.

Level-access showers, wider doorways, grab rails and non-slip floors are typical bathroom adaptations. Apply and wait for approval before work starts, as grants are generally not paid for works already done. We cover this in more depth on our accessible bathrooms page.

Level-access shower with grab rail and slip-resistant floor

Vacant and derelict homes

The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant can help fund bathroom fittings, plumbing and tiling as part of a larger refurbishment. It offers up to €50,000 for a property vacant for two years or more and built before 2008, and up to €70,000 for a derelict property. It is for whole-property refurbishment, not for a bathroom in a home you already live in.

The Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan

The Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan (LAPR) is a narrow product. According to Citizens Information, it is only for homes that qualify for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, the home must be your main residence, and it is aimed at first-time buyers and fresh start applicants who could not get funding from banks or credit unions. From 1 April 2026 the maximum property value in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow is €415,000. So yes, it can fund bathroom work, but only as part of buying and renovating a qualifying vacant home. It will not help if you already own your house.

Our perspective

We see the same pattern again and again. People start by asking what loan they can get, when the better first question is what the job really costs. A loan sized to a vague guess is the most common reason a homeowner is short halfway through.

Our view is that financing should follow design, not the other way round. Once the layout, tiles, shower and vanity are chosen and priced, the borrowing figure becomes obvious, and you can decide where to spend and where to save. Spend on what is hard to change later: plumbing, waterproofing, the shower enclosure. Save on finishes you can upgrade later.

That is why we start with an onsite consultation and a photorealistic 3D mockup before anything is ordered. Seeing the room first means fewer changes once work starts, and changes mid-job are where budgets slip. If you are weighing a bath-to-shower swap as the cheaper route, our guide to bathtub to shower conversion in Ireland explains the costs and rules. We also keep a post on planning a custom bathroom design that helps you settle the scope before you borrow.

— David

How to save money before you borrow

Every euro you do not borrow saves you the interest on it. The Irish Examiner suggests building two price columns for each item: the preferred choice and an acceptable cheaper alternative. Its writer’s approach is to protect spending on plumbing and electrics and save on decorative finishes. Then you can see how far the total falls if you swap.

Some ways to cut the bill without hurting the result:

Keep the existing layout where you can.
Choose mid-range fittings from a reputable range and spend extra only on the shower and taps.
Pick standard tile sizes and avoid complex patterns, which take longer to lay.
Decide everything before work starts. Late changes cost more than early ones.
Get itemised quotes so you can compare like with like.

Work with a fixed scope

When you apply for a loan, the lender will want to know the purpose and the amount. A written quote with a clear scope makes that simple, and it protects you from a loan that is too small. Ask for a quote that separates design, supply, installation and any allowance for the unexpected. Keep the contingency as a separate line, then borrow for the quote and hold the contingency in savings if you can.

Steps from a clear renovation quote to borrowing

Plan your remodel with Plan B Bathrooms

We design, supply and fit bathrooms across Kildare and greater Dublin, with one studio team from survey to completion. That includes bespoke bathroom design, luxury wet rooms, accessible refurbishments with grant application assistance, and project management. You can see what we offer on our services page.

If you want to see your room before you commit, book an onsite consultation. We use our AI Concept Engine and studio 3D mockups to show a layout and materials in your own dimensions, so the figure you take to a lender is based on a plan you have already seen. Browse finished work in our project gallery or see local projects across Kildare and Dublin.

A simple step-by-step plan

Set the scope. Decide what you want: refresh, full remodel, walk-in shower, accessibility changes.
Get a written quote. Ask for itemised costs and take more than one for high-value work.
Add contingency. 10% to 20% on top of the quote.
Check for grants. Only if the works are accessibility-related or the home is a qualifying vacant property.
Compare lenders. Your credit union first, then a bank, using APR and total repayable.
Confirm approval before you sign the work contract.
Pay in stages that match progress on site.

FAQ

Can I get a loan for a bathroom remodel in Ireland?

Yes. Credit unions, banks, building societies and finance companies all offer personal or home improvement loans that can be used for a bathroom. Approval depends on your income, existing debts and credit history, and is never guaranteed.

What is the maximum interest a credit union can charge?

By law, credit union loan interest cannot exceed 12.68% APR. Actual rates are set locally and are often lower, so ask your own credit union for its current rate.

Is there a government grant for a bathroom renovation?

Not for a standard upgrade. The Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People can cover accessibility changes, and the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant applies to qualifying vacant or derelict homes. Apply to your local authority before work begins.

How much should I borrow?

Borrow against an itemised written quote and add a contingency of 10% to 20%. Using savings for part of the cost reduces the interest you pay.