Move toilet upstairs and transform the downstairs toilet in a studio/bedroom

[LSanto]

Hi all,

I couldn't find the answer to my questions, so I apologise if this has been asked before. I'm thinking about buying a house and want to move the toilet upstairs while turning the downstairs toilet into a bedroom/study. I have 2 concerns.

1. How this will affect the value of the house
2. The cost of moving the toilet upstairs. I saw somewhere between £ 5k and 8k. Is it still possible in 2024?

Thank you in advance.

So you would have one floor of the house without a toilet?

Yes. This was the initial idea.
Now that you mentioned... I could add a toilet downstairs between the utility room and the bathroom.
Not sure if it makes any sense.

Between £5k-8k sounds about right

if it’s going to be a bedroom then you’ll need to make sure that there’s an escape room in case of fire.

Is the room you want to move it to upstairs above or close to the current bathroom? The position of the current soil stack will impact on where you put the bathroom upstairs.

id try and keep a toilet downstairs if you can. If the only bathroom is currently downstairs then moving it upstairs should increase value as most people prefer an upstairs bathroom. But if you’re loosing an upstairs bedroom to the bathroom then that will decrease the value as people prefer all bedrooms upstairs.

what’s is the second floor layout?

I would prefer a toilet in each floor of possible!

some areas you can’t remove a downstairs toilet totally you may want to check regulations as well

I am not 100% sure about this, but I think where there is an existing a toilet on the ground floor you cannot get building regs permission to remove it entirely - you have to replace it with one that meets regs.

It's OK if you don't have a downstairs toilet - but once you have one you have to keep one. It's to do with future-proofing and mobility.

www.labc.co.uk/news/can-downstairs-toilet-be-removed-home#:~:text=You%20will%20need%20to%20retain,of%20a%20visitor%20accessible%20toilet.

So it’s not just the toilet, you’re moving the whole bathroom upstairs?
Cost will depend a lot on soil stack location and other water pipes etc. If you’re moving it directly overhead of the existing bathroom it’ll probably be easy. But you’d need a whole new bathroom installation with plumbing etc - we are having our existing bathroom refitted with no change to position of anything and it’s about £2.5k labour and then whatever you spend on fittings / tiles. We’ve spent lots but obv you don’t have to. With replumbing it could be plenty more.

It the current (downstairs) bathroom (as on the plan) the house bathroom ?

Which you want to have upstairs ?
So you are thinking of swapping the little upstairs bedroom / study that is upstairs now, with the bathroom ?

Only that is quite a different scenario from "moving a toilet upstairs" as stated in your title.

Is there room to move the toilet to under the stairs?

Assuming upstairs is 3 bedrooms and you plan on swapping bedroom 3 for a bathroom - I.e. there isn’t room to put a bathroom upstairs and keep bedroom 3.

I’d budget maybe £25-40k for the swap, and expect it to devalue your house by 10-15%, as you’ll be turning a 3 bed house into a 2 bed. Nobody will count a room off the utility room as a bedroom.

A diagram of upstairs would help. As would being clear if you’re moving a bathroom or just a toilet.

What Cult said

I personally like having a downstairs loo as well as upstairs bathroom. I don't like all visitors/workmen etc accessing upstairs really - I see this as private family-only space. I also like being able to nip to the loo when I'm cooking or when I come in from the garden without having to tramp through the house.

It would also mean that occupant of the bedroom downstairs would need to come upstairs to use the loo in the night.

Hi all,

Thank for the messages. They are all really helpful.

The idea is to transform the bedroom 3 upstairs into a bathroom and the bathroom downstairs into a spare bedroom /study. I will need a space for office.

I don't think the toilet under the stairs will work and may be more expensive than having one next to the utility room, for example.

I have added the floorplan for more clarity

Can you post the upstairs floor plan as well as someone might have a good idea of where to put things.

putting the third bedroom downstairs and accessed via the kitchen will make it less appealing to buyers compared to 3 beds upstairs.

I agree, an upstairs floor plan would help. I would keep at least a toilet downstairs if you can and as someone else said- it might be a legal requirement to keep it!

We installed a toilet/sink combo under stairs in a previous property. I prefer a separate sink, but if space is limited, the combo can be shoe horned into a small space.

Hi.

Sorry. I thought I added both floors.

Here goes.

So the upstairs bathroom would be above the kitchen, which is probably a good thing for pipes etc. But you would be needing to get plumbing upstairs where there was previously no plumbing, so that would add cost. And the toilet would have to have a soil pipe going down inside the house probably somehow into the utility area and out to the drains beyond the ground floor bathroom area - I seem to remember moving soil stacks is quite pricey. You would probably be well advised to show the plans to a plumber to try to get a ballpark range.

https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/cost-moving-bathroom-upstairs/

This post has some cost ranges - looks a bit more than you have found.