Do you have a loo next to your kitchen?

[Inthesleeplessnightgarden]

We have a Victorian terraced cottage, currently let while we're living abroad. We've never lived in it but will probably be home soon so am thinking about sorting it out to live in. It has an upstairs loo but downstairs bathroom, tagged on to the back of the house through the kitchen, as seems typical of houses of the period in the area. I don't have a problem with a downstairs bathroom, figure I can put the kettle on on the way through in the morning, but I would like to add a loo. I've read lots of conflicting advice and rules such as having to have two doors between a loo and kitchen but have also seen some houses on agents websites that look like the loo leads directly from the kitchen. Is your house like this? Do you know the rules? Will anyone stop me doing it if there's room? Can plumbers refuse the job if it's against building regs? Help appreciated!

What I do know is that you must have a sink in there so you can wash your hands.

HTH

The having to have 2 doors between kitchen and loo rule is no longer in force according to the bloke on Homes Under The Hammer lol. Hth slightly.

My house is like this. The kitchen leads directly into the bathroom with sink toilet and bath. I think there used to be a door between the toilet and bathroom but it was knocked through. It's fine. Very typical of a Victorian terraced house.

Oh I miss homes under the hammer and other uk property tv! Definitely has a sink, in fact a bath and shower too so could wash hands and the rest of us!

I saw that on Homes Under The Hammer too about the 2 doors no longer required. My friend is in a new build and has a loo off her kitchen.

Anyone have an official link for this? Old regulations were stopping us from having a normal sized kitchen! There is a ridiculous hall way 1mx1m between kitchen and bathroom and a myriad of about 4 doors in a very small space.

I once rented a flat that had the loo IN the kitchen. And the shower. And there was a hole in the external wall so big you could put your fist through it - pigeons used to sit on it and coo at me as I did the washing up.

Ah happy days.

The requirement for a 'ventilated lobby' between a wc and kitchen was dropped from the Building Regulations some time ago.

A wash hand basin must be provided in the wc compartment and a door must separate the two rooms.

The wc should be provided with ventilation i.e. an opening window and extract fan.

NB for 'wc' read 'bathroom including a wc'

Building Regs

www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_AD_G_2010.pdf

If you look at section G4 pages 27 & 28, this tells you that one door is sufficient but that there should be handwashing facilities before going into the kitchen. Again, there are building regs governing ventilation,drainage,water consumption & any electrical changes though in most cases, any electricians/plumbers will be able to self-certify their own work under the competent person's scheme so you won't need a visit from building control.

I think there are quite a lot of older houses like this when outside loos were incorporated into the house at the back of the skullery/store room and then the store room/skullery knocked into the kitchen. We have a 1930's house now with a long kitchen and a loo at the end. Some of the houses still have the outside loos but used as store rooms only now.

Ditto with a lot of the houses in the Victorian terrace we used to live in.

I have renovated many of those houses and always move the bathroom up and turn the downstairs one into a loo/utility/larder (divided up obviously)

www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_AD_G_2010.pdf

Thanks for the links. I am stupidly excited about getting a bigger kitchen

Isn't it a bit ew, though, what if you're eating in the kitchen and someone is crapping noisily a few feet away?

I like noddy's idea. You wouldn't want to be traipsing around in the middle of the night.

We have what is essentiall a square kitchen with one corner walled in to make a toilet and back corridor area. IT is very inconvenient as the little corner is not heated so if you pop to the loo it is like goiong outside. PLus no hand basin as so small so you have to open 2 doors to get to the kitchen sink. And I would rather have the extra kitchen space.
Our house is 1920's. My mum's is 1940's an her downstairs loo is in the back/wash house/kitchen

The 2 door rule is something to do with washing hands IIRC and you can buy a toilet with a wash basin on top of the sistern. The water you use is then stored in the cistern to flush the toilet next time