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?

Nope. More than 1 toilet is my number 1 priority after walls, roof and windows, preferably at least 3 (family of 4, downstairs toilet, main bathroom and en-suite ideally but would compromise to downstairs WC and bathroom but would be a big compromise for me).

I grew up without an additional toilet, but I also grew up without a mobile phone, broadband or Netflix, I won't be without those now either!!! Times move on, I'm assuming no one is advocating going back to one toilet to a street because "they managed just fine" decades ago. There's a reason literally no 3+ bed houses are built with just one toilet these days, it's an expectation now, not a luxury.

@notheragain4

It's my Number 2 priority - if you know what I mean...

Absolutely. I don't understand this obsession with multiple bathrooms. Some houses seem to practically have an en-suite for every bedroom. When remodelling our house we opted to go for one big bathroom rather than a bathroom and tiny en-suite. It's brilliant. A downstairs loo is a must for me though.

More than one bathroom would be a must for me, but as others have said given how much you love the house I would look to either divide the existing bathroom or even look to build a small side return extension in order to incorporate one.

Nope

@WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat haha very good, I overlooked that pun!

Don’t understand the need for loads of bathrooms - just more cleaning. Family of 5 here with one bathroom and it’s been ok.

@notacooldad

In 55 years of living in houses I have only lived in houses with one bathroom! They've all been nice houses. How have I managed I wonder!

Likewise!

Last time I went house-hunting, I looked at all these new builds which had hundreds of bathrooms (okay, so I exagerate... but we were pretty much talking as many bathrooms as bedrooms) and just thought "Yeah, great, and who's going to have to clean all these sodding bathrooms, eh?"

People are so overly precious about bathrooms! Pil live in an old 4 bed house with 1 bathroom. They had 3 children and never had an issue.

Nother again , well explained.

You are quite right that no-one will build a new house with 3 beds and only 1 loo today. Expectations have risen over time. Far more people live in houses with more than 1 loo.

The reality is also that much of the U.K. housing stock is older and still only has 1 loo. Large proportions of the population still live in those and they manage fine....they might like more loos or not be bothered. They might like a house with more loos but there quite simply aren't enough to go round and not every house has space for a loo to be squeezed in, so in reality, significant proportions if the population will continue to live in properties with only 1 loo.

Standards have risen. More people have 2 or more loos and most people with households of 3 or 4 or more would like more than 1 and as new housing stock increases as a proportion of the total it will increasingly be the norm and even moreso as people force and squeeze an extra loo or Ensuite into the older housing stock too. But some will still have 1 loo and people will live there just fine. It's not the same as not having running water or not having a fridge and whilst we can say modern new build standards are for lots of loos, people living with 1 shouldn't feel they are being told they are in poverty because of it.

Maybe one day, 1 loo will be a marker of poverty in the same way only having an outside loo was for a long time. We might be moving in that direction, but it will be many years before 1 loo is so unusual that it is considered a sign of being poor. Personally I'd far rather live in an old property with 1 loo and good sized downstairs rooms and upstairs rooms and garden and storage, than a property with just 1 downstairs room integrating kitchen, dining and living into 1 with the washing machine just a few feet from where I watch TV, plus 2 small bedrooms and 2 bathrooms....but we all like different things.

@Noti23

People are so overly precious about bathrooms! Pil live in an old 4 bed house with 1 bathroom. They had 3 children and never had an issue.

Well, bully for them

Two IBS sufferers in our house makes just one loo not an option. We don't all have clockwork bowels.

@Ginfordinner

While not everyone has clockwork bowels most people don’t have IBS! Obviously I’m not saying people with medical issues are being precious...

Newbold's often have horrible smelly cramped dark little ensuites framed into every tiny cramped bedroom - I find this a bit shitty (literally given they people have a toilet 3 feet from their bed) and prefer big airy bedrooms and a family bathroom.

For a family of 4 or 5 or 6 a spacious family bathroom plus a downstairs toilet is ideal, but there are only two people in the OP's household. The idea that s toilet per person is a must (barring bowel related chronic medical conditions) is odd to me, as families of 5 or 6 with two bathrooms are comfortable.

Who'd want to clean 5 toilets a day until the children are old enough to clean a toilet each? Small children having an ensuite sounds like a recipe for disaster too...

New-builds not Newbold's

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme well that depends on your budget surely. Just as not all old houses have one downstairs bathroom, not all new builds are small with pokey en suites. My 4 bed new build has a full sized bathroom with bath and separate double walk in shower and my en suite a double walk in shower. A god send when our kids are teenagers, no doubt.

notheragain4 more specifically then, most UK new-builds built by developers. Obviously houses individuals have had built for them individually are very varied.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme my house is built by a national developer. It depends on your budget, if you're buying a small 3 bed, yes an en suite will be hemmed in (as our last house was, still chose that over older houses as I wanted a second bathroom and only new builds would allow that in our budget) but we are now buying an executive 4 bed, all developers build a range of houses from a 1 bed flat through to 5/6 bed houses, if you have a bigger budget you will have a nicer house, it's no different in that regard when buying a new build as you would an older house.

One toilet for 2 adults is absolutely ample and fine. Don't let a toilet come between you and your dream house.

Having a downstairs loo as well as an upstairs bathroom meant that my mother could continue to visit us long after she could no longer climb the stairs.

The gut is a very sensitive organ. For lots of people, just knowing that there is a loo handy makes for a much more comfortable life. Likewise, knowing that there isn't a loo available can trigger a lot of anxiety about getting there 'in time'.

Then, as you get older, the definition of what can be considered 'handy' changes too. The indignities involved with not making it in time are ones that no one should have to experience.

These are things that hardly anyone ever talks about, unless they experiences them for themselves. Let's just say that when some people say they need a loo to be available, they are talking about necessity rather than luxury.

Already bought one such house. We are family of four

@FinallyHere

Having a downstairs loo as well as an upstairs bathroom meant that my mother could continue to visit us long after she could no longer climb the stairs.

The gut is a very sensitive organ. For lots of people, just knowing that there is a loo handy makes for a much more comfortable life. Likewise, knowing that there isn't a loo available can trigger a lot of anxiety about getting there 'in time'.

Then, as you get older, the definition of what can be considered 'handy' changes too. The indignities involved with not making it in time are ones that no one should have to experience.

These are things that hardly anyone ever talks about, unless they experiences them for themselves. Let's just say that when some people say they need a loo to be available, they are talking about necessity rather than luxury.

Well said.

Also, I like it that visitors can use our downstairs loo without having to traipse upstairs.

I would look into a small extension by the back door to make a boot room/utility that could incorporate a toilet but it depends on the size of the garden.

I've got IBS and an endocrine condition that means on a bad day I'm weeing every 15 minutes. The really important thing for me is a toilet on every floor. I'm fine with one loo if it's a bungalow but then my DH doesn't spend ages in the toilet. Splitting the bathroom into two wouldn't work for me - there'd need to be a downstairs loo - I think you could easily take a bit off the dining room and use the rest of the room as a study.