Moving bathroom from downstairs to upstairs

[Coconutfeet]

We've viewing a house this week with a downstairs bathroom on the back of the house. If we could get it for a decent price, I'm wondering whether it's worth trying to move the bathroom upstairs. Space-wise I think it's possible (3 double bedrooms) but I'm not sure about the cost and upheaval an impact on the resale price as we're not planning on staying in the house for a very long time.

Any answers to the following questions would be gratefully received:

Has anyone done this? How much did it cost to do (and where in the country are you as I know the cost varies a lot. We're in London BTW)? How long did it take? Was it worth it?

Thank you!

I think it's always favourable to move the bathroom upstairs but would that mean it becomes a 2 bed house with large bathroom? What would you do with the room downstairs once the bathroom is relocated? Is there potential for future buyers to extend downstairs kitchen? A 2 bed house can be a bit limiting when you come to sell it. Any chance to extend into the loft?

I think it might be feasible to chop a bit off the bedrooms to create the bathroom, then I'd like to extend the kitchen into where the bathroom was and open it up onto the garden. It may also be possible to extend into the loft. I haven't actually seen the house in the flesh yet but we may need to move fast when the time comes so I'm thinking about the options now. I definitely agree that we wouldn't want to turn a 3 bed into a 2 bed.

Has anyone got an idea of costs?

It will depend on where your drains are - if you need to lay new drains for the bathroom then obviously that will increase the cost by quite a bit. The plumbing for water supplies in itself isn't massively difficult, then you'll need a soil pipe, new bathroom suite and fitting costs associated with that. We moved ours upstairs as part of an extension so can't be sure how much it cost in itself - I would imagine you're looking at 5-6K at a minimum, depending on what sort of bathroom you want. I would try and keep at least a toilet downstairs if you can though.

If you get it done as part of other work this keeps costs down I think.

Thanks Daisy - I really had no idea if we were talking £5K or £25K! I think if when we see the house we really like it, I'll get a professional to come with me for a second viewing.

We did exactly that..in London too. Had no choice as I was pregnant and downstairs bathroom was so cold and not properly insulated that it would have cost money to pimp it up to standard. It cost about £10k and 4 very messy weeks but we got top spec everything and an architect designed it. I love love love my bathroom and it does have a wow factor but I think if you changed the suite / tiles / etc for cheaper ones it could be possible for about £6k. Since having a baby it's one of the best things we've done. Currently turning the old bathroom into a study / summer room.