Lack of 2nd loo affecting sale!

[WireCatWhore]

4 bed mid terrace.
1 bathroom.
5 of us in the house. Another loo has never been an issuer/crossed my mind.
Been here nearly 13 years.

Nowadays people expect downstairs loos & an en suite as well as a family bathroom.

I am doomed not to sell.

Would you buy a house with only 1 bathroom? cries

[WireCatWhore]

Thanks for the link Mandy.

There is off street parking. Outside our garage in the garage block less that a minutes walk from the house.

We live in a courtyard so no cars outside the houses at all.

My sister has 6 people in her 4 bed & 1 bathroom! And parking by hers is horrendous. She has no off street parking at all.


Thanks for all your replies, it's got me thinking. I do agree, a 2nd loo would be great. And all the homes I've viewed have had at least 2 loos. All houses with en suites have been ruled out so far a the bedrooms are too small!

[Mandy21]

cloakrooms.net/cloakroom-suites/transforming-under-the-stairs-into-a-downstairs-cloakroom-suite/

I think its one of those things that if you've had a 2nd loo / downstairs cloakroom, you'd want one. If you haven't had one, its not really an issue. But I do tend to agree that if you're looking at 4 bedroomed houses, the expectation is that there should be one (whether you agree or not).

Just have a look at the link above - we have a downstairs loo literally in the understairs cupboard. The door opens outwards into the hall, the loo is at the highest end, then there is a tiny sink (with just cold water) on the opposite wall. Does the job. It was in when we bought it so don't know how much it cost, but I'd guess £200 for budget toilet / sink / taps and then you'd obviously have to pay a plumber. We re-tiled it, replaced the flooring and painted it for under £200 about 6 months ago.

[expatinscotland]

If I could avoid it, no, I wouldn't buy a house with only one bathroom or a family house with no off-street parking.

[wonderingagain]

We have one bathroom but 2 sinks so we can brush teeth together etc. It only takes a minute to have a piss, maybe 4 times a day? Most people are only on the loo for about 10 minutes a day. Sorry to be blunt but this bathroom excess is OTT IMO.

And newbuilds. They're having a laugh. Built for small children, maybe but no space for fully grown adults.

[cece]

I have 4 toilets and it is definitely too much cleaning wise.

[MrsTaraPlumbing]

I have 3 children, and for our family of five I would definitely want 2 toilets. They are often both occupied in our current 3 bed home.
However, personally I wouldn't want loads of toilets and ensuites - i already clean 2 toilets every day and would not want to do more.
For me I think one bathroom is enough and I'd rather have more cupboard space than an ensuite - in a family home.
Different in a home for a group of adult house-sharers.

[mamapants]

Don't understand obsession with many bathrooms and ensuites. Its just more cleaning isn't it.
I grew up in a house with one downstairs bathroom only, the first house I bought has one downstairs bathroom and my new house has one downstairs bathroom and there is no way I'm making any other rooms smaller for more bathrooms.
It always surprises me when people make an issue of it I've never found it at all annoying.

[chattychattyboomba]

Just want to add- in our last house where the only bathroom was on the ground floor and bedrooms upstairs i cursed it- being where i spent my pregnancy- waddling downstairs all bleary eyed in the wee hours (excuse the pun) every time i needed a wee (which as we all know is often). In that case i definitely missed what i didn't have and i now love love LOVE having an ensuite.

[NotGoodNotBad]

For me, 2nd toilet essential. Couldn't care less about en-suite. Parking nice but not essential, I've always lived in urban areas and never had such a luxury.

[morethanpotatoprints]

I think these days it is acceptable to have 2 toilets each separate from the bathroom. I don't think en suites are essential at all.
Seems strange that not so many years ago it was a tin bath in front of the fire and an outside privvy.

[vez123]

Reading this with interest. How would they fit the waste? We have a 3 bed terrace and I am puzzled where to put the waste..

[Startail]

No downstairs loo would put me off and so would an ensuite unless the master bedroom was huge.

Not a shower everyday kind of family, but it is horrible having to cross your legs while you DDad takes up residence.

[didireallysaythat]

If I was looking at a 1980s or later house, I guess I would be surprised if it didn't have two loos.

I'd also be surprised if it had any character or a decently sized garden.

But that's just the snob in me coming out. I'd happily swap an en suite for a 200 foot garden. Sigh.....

[ImpatientOne]

Escape and Wire I completely agree with you on new builds - I work in housing (for people with disabilities) and I really struggle with the new build concept of 3 WCs/ensuites/bathrooms non of which are big enough and bedrooms that you can only just get in to sleep.

I have far too much stuff to have a new build!

I think getting the estimates is a good idea as the people tempted by newer houses may be put off at the thought of having work done huge generalisation

With regards parking any serious buyer would drive by at different times of the day and week to really guage what goes on wouldn't they - or is that just my family?

[TSSDNCOP]

I would look at the understairs as an option.

You'll be amazed what a really good plumber can do. I have a friend that's managed to put a bloody wet room into hers!

[Restorer]

When we were looking for this house, a downstairs loo was an necessity and I wouldn't have considered anywhere without decent parking either. I was much less bothered about an ensuite/second bath/shower room and certainly wouldn't have sacrificed bedroom space for it. I must be in a minority though, because houses very similar to this, but with that extra (tiny) shower room sell for considerably more.

[WorrySighWorrySigh]

WireCat do you already have off-road parking of any sort? Do you have a dropped kerb? If parking is an issue do you have a front garden you can sacrifice with the appropriate dropped kerb? For a small number of hundreds we have been able to create an extra parking space using this and this (I dont work for either by the way!).

DH was able to do the work in a couple of days.

[WireCatWhore]

Escape, tell me about it.
Who wants a 6ft by 7ft 4th bedroom.

Just spoken to dh re downstairs loo. He says to get quotes & maybe we will do it.

Also have fired off email to estate agent regarding parking. As there isn't any problems on the whole. It was unusually busy last week mind! If buyers came now, there would be no problems!

[escape]

Slightly off topics, but regarding new builds, ridiculous lack of space to claim there is X amount of bedrooms/baths/ensuites on the spec. 4 bedrooms, yup - and only one big enough to sleep in usually

[StiffyByng]

I always meant to find out but there were always more pressing issues, and the council is a nightmare of misinformation anyway. Now we have a driveway. Bliss.

[moondog]

God, that would have infuriated me.
I would have been onto the council in a second.
I always feel sorry for people living where their light and views are ruined by some idiot's caravan/campervan. So selfish.

[StiffyByng]

I know. But he had big signs on his window saying that he was sick of being reported to the council, that he was appropriately taxed and there was no reason why it shouldn't be there. So I never got round to finding out if that was true.

[moondog]

Really Stiffy?
But it wasn't roadworthy if on bricks/

[StiffyByng]

That's very annoying. We were fuming when told that a disabled parking space outside our house would have to go through full planning permission when the guy opposite had had a huge mobile home on bricks out on the street for over five years taking up three parking spaces with absolutely no need for permission at all.

We would have liked an en-suite but compromises have to be made. We've just installed a shower downstairs in our utility room which is great, and something we were prepared to do. But so many houses here have downstairs loos (Victorian houses-loo under the stairs/back extensions) that the ones that didn't stood out. A costed estimate for installing one would have reconciled me slightly to the lack of one if I loved the house otherwise.

[WireCatWhore]

I think I'll sort out plans/estimate for downstairs loo.

Estate agent just called.

Parking is also putting people off.

Fuckers across the way have 4 cars. 3 hardly driven & none parked in or by their garage.

Bugger. Fuck.