Would you buy a house you loved it BUT only had one bathroom?

[joeysapple]

And no possibility of extending to add another?

Have found a beautiful house that ticks most of my "want" boxes and is really reasonably priced. BUT only one bathroom in the whole house!

What if two people need a poo at the same time?! Would this put you off?

Cursory glance it looks bottom heavy. Why not time dining room into something like study/bath/shower/loo or whatever combo would work. I wouldn’t need so much living space!! Is that not possible ? How often would yku be using that dining room ?

Is there any space downstairs you could put one in?

My friend took a slither off her living room for a toilet and teeny sink, it works really well!

This is why American houses often have more baths than beds. Jack and Jill bathroom/closet suites !!

Just two of you blimey I repeat get rid of dining for bath/study/utility/loo type room.

Interestingly polarised views in this topic.

I think reactions depend on whether you've lived in family houses recently with just 1 bathroom. Obviously in the past, most 3 bed houses just had one loo and people considered it entirely normal. If you grew up in one of those and love in one now, you'll have managed fine and got used to the occasional having to wait and will think it's totally fine and not a deal breaker.

More houses now have more than 1 loo. Houses built in the last 30 years kften have 2 or more loos if they are 2 or 3 bedrooms and lots of people have added a loo or ensuite to houses that previously has just 1 loo. So more and more people have lived in houses with more than 1 loo and that will increasingly be the case as time passes.

In terms of living in a house, if you're a family of 4 or more, having 2 loos is handy and I'd say desirable even though you can manage without.....but crucially, if your budget only stretches to a house with 1 loo in order to get the downstairs space and bedrooms you need, then 1 bathroom is totally fine......you can only have what you can afford.

If you can afford a house with the living space and bedrooms you need and more than 1 bathroom, then only having 1 loo probably should be a deal breaker especially if it's a bigger house. Not only will just 1 loo be less convenient for you but it will make the house harder to sell-on in future ...and people's expectations about having at least 2 loos will only grow rather than diminish.

So, to all the people saying they've only ever lived in a house with 1 loo and have been fine, well of course you have and people will continue to be fine. It's not a total necessity although increasingly common. The issue isn't really about if you can manage with 1, but if you can afford a house in an area which has all the bedrooms and living space you need and would normally have 2 but doesn't. In this case, I think it really is a bit of a deal breaker if there is no possibility to add one. In most reasonable sized houses there will be room and people have recognised there might be space for an Ensuite where the main bathroom is here. This would solve the issue.

If however there genuinely was absolutley nowhere for a cloakroom or an Ensuite and I could afford a similar house, I would turn this one down, in the same way I'd turn down a 3 bed house where 2 of the bedrooms were singles.....because it just didn't deliver the things I personally wanted from a house and coukd afford to have in a different house.

This is hilarious, I can't believe I've been accused of being a troll over this thread

It is bottom heavy, but that's one of the reasons it's perfect for me amongst so many other houses on the market which aren't. We will use the lounge, dining room and family room (which will be my home office come workout room!) daily. Many houses around just have a kitchen and a lounge with three or four tiny bedrooms upstairs so it's hard to find something bottom heavy like this.

Thanks for all your opinions. I'm going to see it on Monday and plan to make an offer if no dealbreakers.

I intend to split the bathroom into two, if I'm lucky enough to get the house!

I had a mild case of the trots this morning and was mighty grateful for our second loo as the rest of the family used the bathroom whilst getting ready for work/school. If we'd only had one, I guess I would have had to keep dragging people out mid-wash, and they would then have had to put up with the aroma on their return. I can see how you can manage with only one bathroom, but I'd seriously question people who say it's never any problem for them.

No. I like having a "spare" loo even though its just me!

Lockdown made me realise getting repairs etc if anything did go wrong might not be so straightforward!!!

Yes it would put me off

I'm with you on a bottom heavy house. Our downstairs is almost twice the size of upstairs, though it does have a full bathroom down there (upstairs shower room but we don't currently use the shower). We have a kitchen diner and 2 good sized reception rooms, one of which dh uses for work. Pre-covid it was going to be more of a hobby room but my sewing machine has had to move into the dining area!

I live in a 2 bedroom flat and have 2 bathrooms just for me and my 4 year old. It's great

We have one (traditional 3 bedroom house). We said if we were that bothered we would make a little extension downstairs but seem to have managed 3 years. People are considerate and don't sit contemplating for ages. Or if they do they get the door knocked on.

That's another consideration if you ever needed to upgrade the bathroom in a two-bathroom house - you'd be without a loo while it's sorted.

It's why we couldn't replace our old WC, which would have been nice to do, but with no other loo we couldn't!

Funnily enough, I just posted to ask if putting in an en-suite would add value to my one-bathroom house! And, after reading the reaction from these posts, I’d say it would make it more saleable if nothing else!

Was also going to suggest splitting that big bathroom into two - one family bathroom, one en-suite.

Good luck, OP!

2 loos was once seen as a luxury and ensuites considered really fancy. 1 has always been fine for anything smaller than a huge family, even if it means a bit of queuing, but 2 is often desirable or makes things easier.

With more and more houses having 2 or more, it's increasingly the norm. Standards and expectations change. Double glazing or a dishwasher aren't in all houses but aren't seen as big luxuries by many now. Lots of houses will never have a 2nd loo becaue of space and they will co time to be perfectly decent houses, just those missing one specification that many people would like and therefore being slightly less desirable than houses of a similar size and location that do have one. That lack of a 2nd loo will make living in a house with more than 4 or 5 people more challenging in logistical terms, plus make it possibly less attractive when it comes to sell as lots of people want that 2nd loo, but there will always be people whose budget means such a house is affordable and attractive or who are smaller households and aren't bothered.

Personally, if I was a 20-something buying a first house, 1 loo would be fine and I wouldn't be bothered st all. If I were buying with a kid already or moving upwards from a smaller to a family house that Inexoected to stay in for a number of years with 2 or more kids, I would want a 2nd loo...but i say that knowing I can afford a house with one. Lots if people stay all their lives in the same house they start out in that had 1 loo and never move to bigger houses and they just manage fine wig what they've got. But I think most people looking to move who already have a couple of kids would be interested in a 2nd loo and see it as something they'd like to get.

I think you have explained that really well @WombatChocolate. A second loo isn't a luxury to most people these days. Having two adults with IBS in our house makes it a necessity for us. I haven't lived in a one loo house since 1989, and would never do so again.

No. I'm 47 and I've never lived in a home with only one bathroom.

Me too. My parents were not wealthy but even our first family home had a 2nd toilet in the garage. Obviously walled off. Not so you could fix the car whilst sat on the loo

It's why we couldn't replace our old WC, which would have been nice to do, but with no other loo we couldn't!

Portable chemical toilet? One of those protaloo cabins in the garden? Bucket under a hedge?

Of course you can replace a loo . It would take an hour, if that, it's hardly major construction work. Go out and have a coffee and come back when it's done 🙄

After growing up with 1 toilet and 5 of us in the house, using the loo immediately after my father gave me aspirations to one day have a house with more than one toilet.

I think those who still have just 1 toilet and think it is fine have been lucky that you have never had norovirus at the same time as other household members. We had 3 of us with it at the same time, luckily we have several sick buckets and 3 toilets, I could not imagine telling my 8 year old to sit on a bucket and deposit liquid shit into it as someone else was on the only loo.

Dh has a bowel condition and that was considered in every house we have been in together. That included rentals.

You can look into the logistics of dividing the bathroom, just be aware of how to connect to the soil pipe or have another one put in on the outside wall.

Downstairs shower and loo in red (juggle the width). Also better shape for kitchen.

You could consider a 'poo rota' or 'poo timetable'. It is obviously not straight forward as, although I am not a doctor, I am aware that the body does not work to a rigid timetable.
You could expand on this approach and on, say, special occasions e.g. birthdays, give a Free Poo Token that can be used a bit like a 'Get out of Jail Free' card in Monopoly.
Or an individual could pass (sic) on their 'go' and save it for a more indulgent time.
I think you should 'go' for it - there's a whole world of possibilities that I've nearly touched on...

I think those who still have just 1 toilet and think it is fine have been lucky that you have never had norovirus at the same time as other household members. We had 3 of us with it at the same time, luckily we have several sick buckets and 3 toilets, I could not imagine telling my 8 year old to sit on a bucket and deposit liquid shit into it as someone else was on the only loo.

Does it ever occur to some posters on here that maybe people:

1. Haven't the room
2. Can't afford it?

It's a wonder a family of 5 survived in a terrace house in the fifties isn't it?

Yes, of course I would buy it! I currently have 3 bathrooms. They are a luxury; having 3 is not a necessity. We only need one.

@bringbacksideburns

*I think those who still have just 1 toilet and think it is fine have been lucky that you have never had norovirus at the same time as other household members. We had 3 of us with it at the same time, luckily we have several sick buckets and 3 toilets, I could not imagine telling my 8 year old to sit on a bucket and deposit liquid shit into it as someone else was on the only loo.*

Does it ever occur to some posters on here that maybe people:

1. Haven't the room
2. Can't afford it?

It's a wonder a family of 5 survived in a terrace house in the fifties isn't it?

I have to admit it really wouldn't be on my list of criteria when viewing a house - "what if we all get norovirus at the same time, must make sure we have a toilet each" 😆

We have one bathroom with no toilet in it, as I don't like the toilet being in the bathroom. We have one upstairs toilet and one downstairs.

I've lived in a couple of houses where the downstairs loo was very small and tucked under the stairs. Worked well in both cases.