Downstairs loo off kitchen

[JustBeingJobless]

Looking at converting understairs cupboard into a downstairs loo. Neighbours had this done many years ago so I know it’s doable. I’m looking at one of those toilets with a built in sink in the cistern to save space (I’m disabled and don’t want to be negotiating a sink sticking out of the wall every time I use the loo), so just wondering if I need hot water to the sink for building regs? Can’t find anything on the gov website about this. Will install one of those little water heaters if so. Thanks :)

We have a loo under the stairs and it has just cold water. If it's just for washing hand etc do you really need a hot water feed? We didn't convert ours, it was here when we moved in so haven't bothered to add hot water.

One other point - I understand it would work for you but is there any way you could make it off the hall rather than the kitchen? If you ever intend other people to use it or sell, I think alot of people would be put off by a toilet off the kitchen.

the 13Amp "instant" water heaters are so bad as to be effectively useless.

However you can get an "undersink" or "oversink" electric heater in the 5-10-15 litre range that maintains a sinkful of hot water. Modern ones are quite well insulated and any lost heat will warm the room.

Though your kitchen doubtless has hot and cold water supplies to the sink so I think the preferred option would be to have a plumber extend it to taps in the WC.

You will need an effective extractor fan. Modern "silent" ones are very quiet and will run for about 100 hours on 14p worth of electricity, so I'd strongly recommend one that comes on with the light switch and has a timed run-on.

oversink usually have their own spout as the outlet must not have a tap

undersink can look better as they feed an ordinary-looking tap

in a WC, it is best to keep the floor clear for ease of cleaning and mopping.

Are you allowed to have a loo directly off a kitchen?

Yes you’re allowed a toilet off a kitchen providing it has it’s own hand washing facilities. No option to put it anywhere else unfortunately as my house just isn’t that big! The door to the understairs cupboard is down the dining end of the kitchen though, so nowhere near food prep areas. If I ever decide to sell and it puts anybody off, there always the option of removing it and having a cupboard again, but im not too worried about that.

Thanks Piglejohn, I’ll check those out.