Why do so many new builds have en-suites/lots of bathrooms?

[Bloodybrambles]

Just out of curiosity really. Growing up I don’t really remember them being much of a thing. Maybe large houses (4+ bedrooms) would have an en-suite off the master bedroom. I remember house hunting with my parents as a kid and a downstairs toilet was a deal breaker. Even then I don’t remember that many houses having en-suites/lots of bathrooms (I feel like we viewed hundreds of houses).

A few of my friends live in new builds and something I’ve noticed is a lot of bathrooms:bedroom/space. One friend has a five bed with five bathrooms! No wonder she has a cleaner…

My best friend has just bought his first house. It’s a cozy two bed, open plan downstairs with a WC, then the master bedroom with en suite and bedroom 2 (just about fit single bed + wardrobe) with the family bathroom opposite. He had been looking with his partner for months and just wanted something in budget, that had at least two bedrooms + parking.

It’s almost made me conscious that we’ve not future proofed with what we hope to be our family home. One family bathroom for three bedrooms (plus wc downstairs).

Agree @BlumminFreezin it really wasn’t that long ago when most people had one bathroom and older houses still have this.
We had a bath once a week on a Sunday and shared the water when I was growing up in the 70s.

There is no way I am ever having a bath once a week or sharing with anyone who does so!

There are so many posts on here from people who get noise from neighbours. It is not surprising that everyone wants to live in a detached home. Maybe we should just cut down on second homes.

🤣🤣 agree
although we didn’t all squeeze in the bath together ( it wasn’t even a full length bath anyway as the room couldn’t accommodate it ) we shared the water
ie one out, don’t pull the plug, next person uses the same water. Grim isn’t it🤢
but I have a friend that still does this and there are 5 of them.

Or / and developers are required to upgrade sound insulation in the party walls.

You don't want musicians lliving in terraces.

I think a lot of people grew up, like me, with one bathroom in the house. Ours to start with was a separate loo but my dad knocked the wall down between them to make it into one room.
We have two loos, one in the bathroom and one in the cloakroom downstairs, but we need to put in a downstairs shower room mainly for our dd but will also help in the long run for us.
I have to say I wouldn't look at a house that didn't have more than one loo, unless it was very easy to put one in.

I live in a new build and we were told it was regulatory for accessibility reasons, so that people in wheelchairs or with mobility issues weren't excluded from buying the property. One house on our estate has removed the downstairs toilet to expand the kitchen, each to their own.

En-suite off the master, downstairs WC and upstairs family bathroom is what we have, we’re looking at moving and wouldn’t consider anything less now!

We have 1 family bathroom upstairs without a toilet, one separate toilet upstairs and a separate toilet downstairs. I think this is the perfect configuration for us. DH usually showers at work or the gym so it's just me and DD showering/bathing in the bathroom.

I really dislike toilets in bathrooms.

This!! So many new builds have no utility. Laundry space is essential. Americans had this sorted 40 years ago why can't we get this right ?

"think a lot of people grew up, like me, with one bathroom in the house. Ours to start with was a separate loo"

This was common in 70's council houses on the basis that someone could be having a shower or bath and the (pokey) toilet was still available for someone else to use.

My grandad had the same but put a small sink in the toilet room.

True
Sean, the kid who used to live next door to us, decided to learn the trumpet and those learning years were truly horrendous🤣
but that’s life
When the back doors open and kids are playing in the garden you can still hear everything even if you’re detached and a couple of metres away. We cant all live a crofters life in isolation.

It's so annoying! Downstairs loo, good, but a minuscule upstairs en-suite making the bedrooms pokey - I'd far rather have decent storage! I don't want to go to the loo practically in my bedroom anyway. And 3 loos in a 2 bed house is madness!

Honestly I wouldn't mind at all. But then I'm not a 'spend hours in the bathroom' type anyway.

I brush my teeth and shower, that's it. Same as dh and dc's. Once in a blue moon I'll have a bath. We have another toilet, the only staggering needed is bath or showering and there are 24 hours in a day so plenty of time to split amongst 5 or even 6 people!

For everything else...hair/make up/whatever, I sit in my bedroom in front of my vanity unit (which there's only space for because no one decided to stick an ensuite in the room 😂)

We are all incredibly clean nowadays. Both my grannies grew up in houses that had an outside toilet and a big tin bath. Neither of them were considered poor either. You had a bath once a week and used a flannel the rest of the time. My mother, who admittedly is fairly ancient at over 90, grew up in a very grand house still only had a bath once a week when she was growing up and also did the revolting flannel thing the rest of the time. Despite loving showers, I'm sure my skin biome might prefer me to be showering less.

Historically as our population began to grow more terrace houses were built and people put up with the noise of neighbours.
We don’t live in isolation of others and just need to get on with people near by.

We have a Duchy development proposal near us ( Williams land) with 2500 homes proposed, the majority are detached or semi detached. If they terraced those properties, which they said they’d do years ago, then they could get away with saving over 100 acres. Instead they pander to developers profits led by people ‘wants’ for a detached property.
Land for wildlife and our ability to feed ourselves is more important than giving everyone a 2m strip of hard standing between their neighbours so they can say there’s is a detached house
320 acres of farmland is about to be bulldozed…..!!

I grew up with one bathroom in the house. Bloody awful it was too, esp when something like norovirus went through the family. Current family house has one bathroom, one ensuite and a downstairs loo. Marvellous!

Edited to add: personally I've never felt the need for a detached house and have lived happily in terraces, flats and semis. But more than 1 toilet is non-negotiable for me.

Americans have masses of cheap land. They have the space to grow

US population density = 38 people / km2
UK population density = 279 people / km2
and Englands on its own is even higher than that

Probably knowing the mortgage will go through the roof and you'll need a lodger to help pay it, who won't have to share your bathroom 😏

We're moving into a 50s terraced next week that has an upstairs toilet and downstairs bathroom.
Three bedrooms and it works for me with that setup.
I've never lived anywhere with more than one toilet so I'm excited haha.
My friends in newbuilds (all two bedrooms) just have the one bathrooms and they're all upstairs which always feels like I'm intruding when I use.

Ah but we could still design houses better come on !! A functional utility should be a priority. These are new builds..we can do better than this.

They can’t be that new build as building regulations have required ground floor toilets for eons.
or are they onlevel flats ?

As long as the floor plate doesn’t increase I’m all for a separate utility. Especially for a large family home
But I’d rather keep the floor plate smaller to conserve land. So maybe one of those upstairs en-suites could become a utility instead.

@Littlemisscapable - isn't the kitchen a functional utility space? I'm not opposed to separate utility area, but I just wondered why it is seen as better to have it separate to the kitchen.