what's more useful/desirable- downstairs loo or ensuite?

[3isthemagicnumber]

Looking to put a 2nd toilet in our house.
Its a 5 bed, 3 storey Victorian semi with ,currently, only one bathroom (with w.c, bath, sink and seperate shower)

£ growing boys and us dictate that we would very much like a 2nd toilet but cannot decide between downstairs loo or ensuite.

Ensuite would be built into the '2nd' bedroom (currently large double which would be reduced to a small double)

Downstairs loo would hopefully go understairs but may compromise the kitchen space a bit.

We plan to probably move on from here, though not for 5 years or so.

Which option would
a) You prefer in your house
b) think would appeal to most buyers

????
thanks

more downstairs loo love then

Putting it another way then, if you were viewing a house that had an ensuite but not a downstairs loo ,would that bother you and put you off buying it ?

Im feeling from the responses here that an ensuite is seen as a bonus but a downstairs loo an essential???

are you sure re downstairs loo? Friend of mine put in teeny downstairs loo under stairs with loo under the slope of the stairs. I would say you would recoup costs on both. We have smaller house (four beds) but put shower in downstairs loo to deal with the getting ready in the morning business. To be honest, it's never been used, but it's there!

The problem, coldcomfort, is head height really- the frustrating thing is another foot or so (in length) would give enough head height but to take that from the kitchen with its current design would mean no space for fridge freezer (and no where else to put it )

When we bought the house we did feel that we would be able to put one there but hadnt really looked into it properly

DH is becoming more and more disheartened at downstairs loo responses as he realises it would open a whole new can of kitchenporndesign worms for us.

me, would love a new kitchen.....

I sounds like that somebody that would be looking at your house will be thinking of a downstairs extension so could put a loo downstairs when they did it. So put in the ensuite.

I just hope you don't have second floor rooms/loft room with no ensuite they don't count as bedrooms in my book! I'm looking at 5 bed houses at the moment you need 3 loos but more puts me off due to cleaning!

er, 2 small double bedrooms on 3rd floor with, gulp, no ensuite....

Is it really only under the stairs you could put it?

Is it possible to lower the floor to make a step down into the loo? (This would be possible in our under stairs cupboard)

This might make it clearer

Thi is NOT our house, but a 'fixer upper' down the road but the floor plans are exactly the same, though ours is a mirror image iykwim

"herewww.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-16382334.html"

Personally, I'd prefer the en suite. We have both. We do use the downstairs loo but not as much as we use the en suite.
In our previous house we had no en suite but a shower room with loo under the stairs. We did use it but it always felt a bit odd.
The main advantage of the downstairs loo is, as others said, not having guests go upstairs - but you are used to that so will know how much of an issue it is.

I love having a downstairs loo - we've been here 4 yrs and it still feels like a luxury to have one!

However I'd also love an ensuite - call me greedy and all that

Nice house - so cheap compared to London!!!! You do have room downstairs clearly as kitchen is quite big, but might think a bathroom on top floor important as otherwise you have to go down a flight in the middle of the night.

Thanks again
Coldcomfort; you are right in terms of space(certainly not complaining about that, we are very lucky) but it is the design of the kitchen (inherited) that is prohibitive,have huge ugly quite incongruous breakfast bar thing that cuts across half the kitchen; also chimney breast that limits arrangment.

cat64, that suggestion is one we are mulling over more seriously now

We have tons of bathrooms upstairs but none on the ground floor, we're getting one put in this month and I can't wait mainly for the same reasons others have already said - but we like to have parties and it will be so much better having a downstairs bathroom!

I would also say a downstairs loo. We have 4 bedrooms, 3 dc and only one house bathroom. I am looking at a very small side extension to add a dwonstairs loo and shower cubicle and possible utility.

This would mean a kitchen re-design here and the sooner thant happens here the better!

Let us know what you decide

I would say downstairs is more desirable for resale but depends on the size of ensuite/second bathroom and how much smaller it would make the bedroom.

We looked at a lot of houses with tiny ensuites, leaving no room to swing a cat in either the ensuite or bedroom - pointless imo.

In an ideal world I would rather have both, particularly with a 5-bed but with a period property, I would expect a downstairs loo more than an ensuite.

If I were you though, I would go for the ensuite as long as it didn't compromise on space too much and was a decent size.

Sorry, mean second bathroom with door to landing.

You could get rid of the kitchen island, if that would help increase kitchen space?

I would talk to some kitchen designers (not just a builder) to see if there is a way to squeeze in a loo without re-planning the kitchen.