to get rid of a downstairs loo?

[Babybrainx2]

Housey post - we live in a 3 storey house with bedroom (used as playroom), downstairs toilet and kitchen on the ground floor with a wide, long hallway between the rooms. Lounge, bathroom and 2nd bedroom (used as office) on the middle floor and 2 big bedrooms and another bathroom on the top floor.

babies are now toddlers/preschoolers so we are starting to socialise in the evenings again, having friends over and carrying food and drinks up and down stairs to the living room is becoming a pain.

I would like to make downstairs open plan, to have a big kitchen/living space but it would mean losing the downstairs toilet. DH thinks that will knock money off the house value and won't even consider it, especially as our youngest is not potty trained yet. AIBU for wanting to get rid of a convenient 3rd toilet?

Definitely keep the downstairs loo. As for open plan, I wouldn't. I don't mind a kitchen/dining room, or a dining room/living room, but don't like a fully open space combining kitchen, dining and living, unless there is another separate living room. It may be fashionable today, but I don't think it would stand the test of time.

Keep it and shove it under the stairs. Definitely need a downstairs loo especially with kids and their friends running in for a wee when playing.

We value ours - all the reasons previously stated.
Broke an ankle two years ago. Had to live downstairs.
The main reason is though that I hate visitors, tradesmen, neighbours who have popped in for a coffee - all having to go up to the bedrooms to use the loo.

Wouldn’t be without one. Great for when you have workmen or guests for them to use so they don’t have to go upstairs.

A lot of people seem to be missing the point when they say the loo should be kept as elderly/infirm visitors may not be able to manage stairs - they have to go upstairs to the living room as things are!

Well, there is another room downstairs that's currently being used as a playroom, that could be used as a small living room. Most people don't have the luxury of having a playroom yet manage fine. When mine were small, they had a toybox in the living room for daily toys, and the rest of the toys were kept in their bedrooms.

I forgot about this thread. A few things to reply to!
Window locations - 1 in the playroom at the front of the house, 1 in kitchen on the back wall on the left, and a set of French doors on the right.

Bathrooms - 1 on the middle floor, 1 on top floor. Neither are en suites.

We will still have a large lounge on the middle floor (although if I find the perfect set up downstairs, I'd be tempted to make that our room and give the kids a bedroom each)

We can only get a 2 seater sofa in the playroom which is not practical for entertaining visitors.

To be honest, I've got quite carried away this morning and am just looking at totally new houses!

I would prefer my living area downstairs.
I have just taken our downstairs toilet out(2 of us and 3toilets)I am putting my washing machine and tumble drier in there and shelves.I have a small kitchen so making the facilities more livable overrides a downstairs loo.
When I am too old to use the upstairs toilet I will be too old to use the bedrooms.

I'm a bit confused about this needing Building Regulations approval to remove a downstairs toilet. I thought building regs were for initial building of properties, and planning permissions covered alterations by homeowners, and I can't find any references to this rule for house alterations (as against for how the house is built in the first place). I'm happy to be told I'm mistaken, but does anyone have a link to the relevant rules and guidance?

We had similar in new build 3 storey town house. Also v small garden. Put extension across back going 3 metres out into garden. Brilliant. We now have large kitchen/ living room downstairs, plus lounge upstairs with sofa bed for guests (and we can continue drinking downstairs whilst kids in bed!) Diwnstairs room can be study/spare room/playroom. It's actually now the bloody x box room, hey ho.

My fear was reducing the size of the garden but it hasn't. And as the kids get older they play less in it (2 boys, they prefer park & ball). Still space in garden for grass/deck/seating/bbq. Cost £20k - much cheaper than moving.

Oh, and still have a loo on each floor. I think in a town house you need one.

Oh, and still have a loo on each floor. I think in a town house you need one.

We have bifold and velux windows on extension so lots of light coming in.

shortsaint that is what I wanted to do originally! We have a 3x5m patio and I wanted to extend over it and just keep the 6x6m lawn area of our patio, but DH talked me out of it because of the cost and losing too much garden.

My thought was if we extended then the lounge on middle floor could become our bedroom and the kids could have a room each on the top floor. The playroom could stay as is or be used for DH weight bench and my treadmill.

I would never buy a house with the living space on a different floor to the kitchen I would hate that more than no downstairs loo. Therefore I would get rid of the loo. Hundreds of families manage with one bathroom and you would still have two.

shortsaints idea sounds like a perfect solution for you considering you future plans and would add value to the home

You don’t need building reg approval to remove a downstairs WC, whether in Scotland or England. You do need to approach building control if you relocate it though.

Babybrain2 Do It. It'll pay for itself. It was the traipsing up & down to the lounge that drove me potty. Now we have what I call the winter sitting room, cosy upstairs, and the garden room downstairs, which is just great in the summer. Now kids are older lots of places to 'hide' if we wish. We're not moving!