From 5 August, thousands of single-sex toilets will need to change to be birth sex only

As many as 13,000 toilets and thousands of changing-rooms across the UK will need to be changed when new guidance on single-sex spaces comes into force next month. 

From 5 August, single-sex toilets, changing-rooms, hospital wards and refuges must be used based on a person's birth sex, rather than the gender with which they identify.

It follows an April 2025 Supreme Court ruling which supporters welcomed as confirming "women are women and men are men", but which critics fear will damage the trans community.

The code of practice, which covers England, Scotland and Wales and was published in draft form in May, confirmed a service must be used on the basis of biological sex in order for it to be classed as single-sex under the Equality Act.

Service providers will be allowed to exclude trans people from single-sex spaces if they decide other users could "object" to the presence of a trans person.

If service providers allow trans women into women-only spaces, it will not legally be regarded as a woman-only space.

Nearly 13,000 toilets and more than 5,000 changing rooms could have to be revamped at gyms, hospitals and leisure centres across Britain at a cost of millions when the new rules come into force in three weeks' time, analysis by the Press Association suggests, while at least 18,000 signs might also need to be changed.

Restaurants, leisure centres and hairdressers are among the service providers affected by the new rules, along with public functions such as council services and associations such as local sports clubs with at least 25 members.

Cleaning the new-look facilities could cost public-sector bodies, such as local councils, more than £20m, while the bill for the necessary building work could reach more than £14m per year, although both estimates may be too low.

It has been suggested unisex services such as self-contained lockable cubicles could ensure provision of toilets and changing-rooms for all, with the code noting it would be "very unlikely to be proportionate to put a trans person in a position where there is no service that they are allowed to use".

The code - updated for the first time in more than a decade - was published by the government eight months after being handed over from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and in the face of criticism for the delay, with ministers insisting they were "taking the time to get this right".

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For Women Scotland (FWS), who were behind the Supreme Court case, have previously said: "It's important to remember that the code does not represent a change in the law, just practical help for implementing it.

"If businesses have been complying with the law, there shouldn't be a need for major changes."

But a spokesperson for the Trans+ Solidarity Alliance described the guidance as "unworkable" and said it could "lead to widespread harm for trans people and those who don't conform to gender stereotypes, and put businesses and charities in the crossfire of endless litigation".

A government spokesperson previously said the statutory guidance is "about giving organisations the guidance they need, not changing the law or creating new rules" and suggested "many businesses will already be largely compliant with the code so there will be no cost at all".

(c) Sky News 2026: From 5 August, thousands of single-sex toilets will need to change to be birth sex only