Loft access: spiral or space saver stairs

[Aquifolium]

Hi, we are having a loft room done, and are deciding about stairs. Our builder says there is not enough space for a proper staircase, and to consider a spiral staircase.
We are fine with this, except the stairs will not be in a open space(walls on 3 sides) so the banisters and circle shape will be adding restrictions in for no ergonomic benefit.
I have seen some paddle style space saver stairs which look like they would fit.
My main question is; which stairs are going to be less awkward to carry stuff up and down?

I think that the space saver stairs will be easier once we have got the hang of which foot goes first. The spiral staircase would probably end up being narrower.

Has anyone got any experience of these types of stairs?

Good idea Chariots, will look into it.
Am going to see if so can talk to builders tomorrow to get a quote for building us a wooden square spiral.

Once I know some prices we can decide.

Something like this company maybe

www.houtentrappen.info/spiltrap.html

Blue skies, I completely agree. The only way spiral is going to be better is if the steps are bigger and meet the wall.

Ok looking at your floor plan I'd have standard stairs starting where you're planning the spiral/space saver, but running straight going above the bath. If you look at this photo, imagine where the bannisters are is enclosed so not open to the bathroom, but underneath is not blocked as in the photo. Put bath in that under stairs space.

Titchy, thank you so much for your input. Unfortunately the pitch of the roof means the opening needs to be towards the middle of the house, so from how I’ve understood your suggestion, I don’t think it will work ☹️

Chairiots, the stairs you have linked do look scary! I hadn’t realised it was a Dutch thing. When I stayed in a house with paddle stairs it was many years ago in northern Germany.

Yeah, the Dutch call English type stairs lazy stairs! They don’t like stair cases to take up too much room so they’re all a bit scary.

inspiralingstairsystems.co.uk/prices

This looks good

There seem to be a few v cheap options here including one with a turn at the bottom. Any good? Or are they a bit ladder-ish?

Is there a way of not enclosing all of it, a bit like this, so it looks a bit nicer and is easier to get stuff up and down?

OP - you say you are not getting Building Regs approval for the loft conversion. Entirely up to you, of course, but if and when the time comes that you or your heirs want to sell, this will have serious implications. And right from the start, it might invalidate your house insurance.
www.samconveyancing.co.uk/news/conveyancing/buying-a-house-with-loft-conversion-without-building-regulations-5547

also:
www.which.co.uk/reviews/loft-conversions/article/loft-conversions/loft-conversion-building-regulations-and-planning-permission

www.propertywire.com/news/europe/uk-property-rental-tenants/

Wet foot, I like your second suggestion, but I think the inspiraling ones are most suited to our project. (And budget) that site has quite a few interesting options, but I think this staircase needs to be a thing of practicality rather than beauty.
Flora, thank you for the links. I will look at them and consider.
Unfortunately the only way we can afford a house big enough to fit all of us in and include office space for me (I work at home) is to do a loft without regs. We will have to make what arrangements we can to mitagate any of the bad things that could happen in the future, but at the moment we need something which will work for the present.

I realise this attitude goes against the grain on Mn, but that is the world we live in.

I'm very late to this thread so I wonder if you resolved it? But, just as a heads up for anyone searching for a similar solution to your problem, I'd like to offer some information. If you are accessing one bedroom/office in a loft and want to use a spiral staircase, the UK Building Regulations would require a spiral stair with a clear tread width (measured between the centre column and the outer edge of the tread or the inner edge of the balustrade spindle, whichever is the smallest measurement.) This measurement would need to be a minimum of 600mm. In practice, this would usually be a spiral staircase with an overall diameter of 1400mm. This is often relaxed to a diameter of 1200mm by Bdg Regs if you're really short of space. If you have 2 rooms in your loft, the requirements move up to a Category B spiral staircase, which needs a clear tread width of 800mm and, in practice, this is a huge staircase with a diameter of approx 2000mm. There are regs for the tread rise too, and this should be less than 220mm - the same as for a normal staircase. This would require 13 risers whether you have a standard, spiral or spacesaver staircase.
I can't tell what the available space you have in your sketch but it would need to be a min of 1250x1250mm (and the opening in the ceiling should be the same).
If you are looking at spacesaver staircases, with paddle or alternate treads, this is allowed by UK Building Regs to access 1 room if you can't fit a regular staircase. However, a spacesaver stair should be in a straight flight, occasionally Bdg Regs might allow a quarter turn but not usually. So, the space needed for 13 risers of a straight spacesaver staircase would be a rectangular shape, about 1670-1750mm x 600mm, depending on the model of spacesaver. The opening in the ceiling would need to be about the same size.
In practical terms, it would always be best to find a way to get furniture up to the loft before you install the staircase. People can be put off by both types of staircases but they usually relax once they use them. However, a spiral with 1200mm diameter is easier to use than a spacesaver. (For some reason, people often think that they are steeper or harder to use than a normal staircase but, in fact the tread rise will be the same if it's done to regs.)
Hope this is of help to anyone with this dilemma and you will find more info, advice and staircases on DesignerStairs.co.uk website