Get rid of toilet in new build

[putitdown356]

About to move in to a 3 bed new build, one bathroom and one en suite upstairs, with a loo downstairs.

I want to get rid of downstairs loo and put a washing machine and dryer in there.

I live on my own. If I don't do this washing machine will go in kitchen and dryer im not sure where it could go. Does this sound like a mistake? Or would you also do this?

I have a downstairs and upstairs toilet.

I wouldn't now ever live in a house without both, especially now I'm approaching 70.

You only need to suffer a D&V bug once to truly appreciate how crucial they are......

@Farmgoose thats a possibility actually (in a shed in garden), there is an outdoor socket installed already.

Yes, they plan to cram in as many houses they possibly can and build them in the quickest time possible. Leaving "snags" for years, in the hopes most people don't bother/get bored of snagging requests after months and months and months.

@fanaticalfairy oh crikey I hope not! This is a small local developer, who do have a good reputation. Part of the development is converted from an old factory and the rest are new builds. There are 19 houses on the whole estate. So touch wood it will be ok.

How old are you? Will you need a downstairs loo in the future? How long do you intend staying in the house?

It will be harder to sell.

@RuthW mid forties. Im not planning on selling, unless I met someone and decided to move. But that is pretty unlikely.

I think as long as I keep the plumbing in place , that seems to be the important bit.

appalling new build design if no place designed for a dryer and washing machine in kitchen
Some near me have them in a shed as the houses are so small!!

Anywhere that your washing machine could go upstairs - I have a small utility room upstairs - it's much more convenient.

I wouldn't.
I've known so many people complain that they don't have a downstairs toilet. It will make the house less sellable, I am confident of that too.

Also you have to think that every visitor who needs to go will be walking through your bedroom to the ensuite.

Exactly. No one needs an ensuite, but do need a WC downstairs. I would hate running up and down stairs to use a toilet all day long.

Definitely this. All guests use our downstairs WC. I wouldn't be happy about guests traipsing to the family bathroom.

You will have to reinstate if you want to sell.

Have you considered removing the separate bathroom upstairs if you want to keep the ensuite? I dont think that would be as much of a problem with building reg and if you dont often have people stay overnight maybe not an issue. Or could you convert it to a shower room and have space for a stacked washer drier?

If you wanted to use the whole bathroom you'd need to reinstate if selling or get a lower price.

Unless OP lives in a new build mansion is going up and down the stairs (mobility issues withstanding) an actual issue?

Definitely this. All guests use our downstairs WC. I wouldn't be happy about guests traipsing to the family bathroom.

Sounds like there's a separate bathroom as well as the en suite.

What are the two spare bedrooms doing? Could they go in there?

If the plumbing is still there is an easy job to put back if you sell it, and that’s tile only reason to keep it (maybe also for old age, but that’s your call).

Upstairs utility if possible every time. It’s so much more convenient than carting washing up and down, plus you might have room to keep the ironing board up and a heated airer

I think in terms of long term value of the house and making sure that it has an accessible downstairs loo would leave the loo downstairs. If you have a box room not much use I would convert that into a laundry room if using washer and dryer all the time.

I can't be doing with guests traipsing up and downstairs to the loo and like to have one handy to downstairs but we have quite alot of downstairs living space for a 3 bed - although still no room for an indoor dryer lol

That sounds like a good idea to me, especially as you live on your own.

We removed downstairs loo To create a much bigger kitchen and never regretted it
Why would you build on or use the shed or waste your 3rd bedroom when you’ve got a perfectly good space downstairs? Some of these suggestions are bonkers.

You could look at putting one of these next to airing rack in a spare bedroom to speed up drying, I don’t use ours for laundry but noticed it has a laundry drying setting which I thought was really clever. Better for the fabric than heat too. https://www.meacodehumidifiers.co.uk

When you get into your sixties like me, you will wish you had a downstairs toilet LOL.

It might have been me? Accessibility regulations require homes to be built with a downstairs toilet and turning spaces for wheelchairs on the ground floors (I think), to enable disabled people to socialize in other people's homes more easily.

This would not be an issue for the more generous plots that houses were built on for much of the 20th century, or for apartment blocks with elevators which can just put a fully wheelchair-accessible loo on the ground floor for disabled visitors. In modern houses which have to resort to very small plots, this results in extra random loos and weird, cramped layouts.

As I said on the other thread, it's easy to say "Greedy developers!!" (about this and about the lack-of-parking issues also mentioned on this thread) but what do people in the UK want to happen instead?

The choices are a) concrete more meadows (in a country which is already one of the world's most nature-depleted), b) build fewer houses (in a country which has a housing crisis) or c) start shifting towards having a higher percentage of the population living more centrally in apartments, enabling more floor space to be literally built in the sky and requiring less car use. None of these are popular choices in the UK.

As for the OP, I'd think about how often people come to your house. If you mostly entertain outside the home, it's up to you. If you often have people round, you might want to consider the accessibility issue.

Do you have a floor plan? There should be an allocated space for either a washing machine or dishwasher in the kitchen or under the stairs etc.
Ours is in a cupboard under the stairs, but due to the turn on the stairs it's not tall enough to stack a dryer on top.
Could you have a dryer unpsairs in one of the spare bedrooms?

😂😂😂

I think the idea is to make it so that houses could entertain a disabled visitor/relative, rather than that they should serve as fulltime accommodation for a wheelchair user. I agree that a lot of rules seem a bit tickbox though.