3 bedrooms, only 1 bathroom. Would this put you off?

[BootyMcBootFace]

Sorry if this has been done before, but I'd really welcome thoughts on this. We viewed a house today which I really liked but it only has one bathroom (not even a separate downstairs toilet). It's not particularly a problem for me but I'm worried about selling on.

Would you be put off buying a house with only one bathroom?

To be honest I'd rather have storage over countless en-suites/WCs to keep clean especially as many don't have windows and are just dark and stuffy

We only have 1 bathroom in a 3 bed semi - the only time I thought a downstairs WC would be useful was when I was toilet training DD

If you like the house and location and the bathroom situation works for you, then but it! You are buying it to live in, not as a commodity.

Plus presumably the space / one bathroom is reflected in the price.

One bathroom - not a problem
One toilet - a problem and if possible you should add a downstairs toilet (only the toilet is needed downstairs & adding a loo to, say the cupboard under the stairs is much cheaper than adding a bathroom).

It would put me off. Especially in Covid (post Covid) when isolation becomes necessary for family health. If the choice was house with 2+ bathrooms or one, I would choose 2+.

I wouldn't buy a house that didn't have at least two toilets. I grew up in one and honestly it was miserable.

Some of these posts are a bit odd. No one suggested having “countless” WCs, unless you struggle counting to two. And it’s hardly precious to want or need two. Having two is very handy with either small kids, or guests, so they don’t need to traipse upstairs,

And even with just two folks living in the house, having a second loo is very handy, so you don’t need to disturb someone if they are having a bath or a shower.

There was a similar thread to this last week.

People pointed out 2 things which are both true at the same time; huge numbers of the older UK housing stock is 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom/loo in style. It is perfectly normal. AND newer housing stock with 3 beds usually has at least 2 loos and often 2 bathrooms.

1 and 2/3 loos are all very normal in 3 bed houses. As new builds make up a growing proportion of 3 bed houses, having more than 1 loo will increasingly become common.....but people choose houses for lots of reasons. Lots wouldn't consider a new build on an estate but prefer a 3bed older house without an extra loo. They might prioritise not being on an estate, being closer to well established schools, bearer town centres, near family or friends or any other reason.

Families with 2 or more children often like more than 1 loo and make it a priority and so choose newer housing stock to get it.

However, loads of people live in 1 loo households and do t see their 3-bed as inferior to the 3 bed with extra loos.

It depends on the size of house, location, other features and also price too. There will always be a market for cheaper 3 beds and more expensive ones.

Once you get to 4 beds I definitely think 2 loos and really 2 bathrooms are expected, but in 3 beds there is a real range and it's just 1 determining factor when choosing.

Personally, I'd rather live in the Victorian semi with 2 big reception rooms and a lovely garden near the town centre, and sacrifice the off-road parking and extra loos, but people feel differently.

I do t think older houses with just 1 loo will suddenly be hard to sell if they are in good locations and have other things going for them.

One bathroom was ok when kids were small but now they are getting older and we needed another loo. For us it was imperative that the house has at least two Lois.

AND newer housing stock with 3 beds usually has at least 2 loos and often 2 bathrooms

This is just not true. We live in an old listed building. It has three, which someone obviously put in. Our last house had a bathroom and downstairs loo. It was Victorian, so again someone put them in. Because when both properties were built out side loos were the thing.

Yes lots of houses only have one, yes most new builds have two, but many people have now put in a second loo into Older properties, It’s very very common.

A downstairs loo or en suite is such a waste of space to me. I would much prefer lots of decent storage space.

No, I've never understood the need for so many bathrooms. A downstairs toilet would be useful but not a deal breaker as I've never had one.

@bookmum08

A downstairs loo or en suite is such a waste of space to me. I would much prefer lots of decent storage space.

But it’s not one or the other, unless it’s a small property?

I wasn’t saying all older housing stock has 1 bathroom. Of course not. Most older housing stock of 3 beds and less had just 1 originally or none if built before the late 19th century. Some people have added extra loos and bathrooms but that hasn’t happened in all by any means and will never happen in lots due to layout and size.

Many small 3 bed terraces built in the late 19th century or 20th century until the 1950s have a layout where there is no under stairs space big enough for a loo and nowhere to extend the property or squeeze an en-suite into. Lots of small 60s and 70s houses are just very small with a tiny box room bedroom that won’t fit a single bed that’s full-size, a tiny family bathroom and honestly zero space downstairs to squeeze one in. Often several generations of families of 4 or 5 have grown up in them, but it has been a squeeze.

We all expect more these days. Central heating isn’t a luxury now and neither is double glazing and in some ways an extra loo fits this category ....but it’s different too because it actually requires sufficient space whereas the other features don’t.

Increasingly people squeeze tiny loos and ensuites into teeny tiny spaces - all good, but often not possible.

Given a choice of 2 identical houses - 1 with the 2nd loo and one without, clearly with is good. Whether a 2nd loo is worth sacrificing location or a bedroom or room size or parking or the other myriad things people want is a personal choice in situations when you can’t have everything.

I've never lived in a house with more than one bathroom/toilet. Surely most houses only have one bathroom, unless they are fairly new builds. Unless I've just always lived in poor areas where we are expected to put up with such things as waiting a little while to go to the loo, or asking people if they need to be in the bathroom before we go for a shower, etc.
Technically the house I live in now has 2 toilets, but one of them is outside, cracked from freezing in the winters, and disconnected now. Nobody has used it in over 20 years, so I don't count it.

If you go to the post-industrial towns with rows of small terraced 2 and 3 beds, there are rarely 2 loos even now. The mass housing of the 50s which included lots of small 3 beds don’t usually have them either unless they’ve got a steeply pitched roof that allowed a loft extension (not usual in small 50s terraces) or large garden that allowed a downstairs extension. These small houses can’t just squeeze one in under the stairs. The bigger Victorian semis or larger 30s semis might manage that or the plumbing might mean it still hasn’t happened.

People forget too the simple fact that lots of families really stretch to afford a 3 bed of any type. Small with that tiny 3rd bedroom, a tiny hall (if any) and possibly stairs in the living room are all pretty normal for family living. Many people spend 30-40 years in such houses.

It would me. I am
Hoping to move next year, and having 2 toilets is really my top priority. I just can’t stand many more years of arguing over the toilet, children suddenly needing the toilet when someone else is in the bath/shower. So 2 toilets is my top priority!

I wouldn't

I think a 3 bed with 1 bathroom is the most common type of property in the uk by number of properties. I location is more important than no of bathrooms.

DH also takes bloody ages, especially when his new car magazine has arrived
mine too! In fact there seems to be a genetic blip in the male line of our family which means they all take bloody ages in there!

We couldn't manage with just one loo, no. We bought the house with a bathroom and a teenytiny downstairs loo and sink squashed into the understairs cupboard - it's minute but it serves the purpose perfectly well. We then added an ensuite ourselves. There are 4 of us but we often have grandparents staying as well.

I think because of the obsession with owning your own home in the UK- I mean look at the countless programs brits love it- and all of the renovation it’s now expected to have more than one bathroom in a property old/or new. Plus it’s handy depending on your circumstances but it wouldn’t put me off buying house because it’s not difficult to put one in necessarily.

I think a 3 bed with 1 bathroom is the most common type of property in the uk by number of properties

I agree, however I think a huge number of three beds have an additional loo now in addition to the one bathroom. Which still leaves a huge number with only one bathroom. I can’t find any stats on it though.

I also don’t know what location has to do with it, I don’t think anyone would go to a bad location for an extra loo.

It would put me off, mainly as Ive always had a downstairs loo. A separate one is so useful for guests/workmen who you dont want upstairs, you dont have to worry about muddy boots if working in the garden and for toilet training little ones so you dont have to dash up the stairs.

It's quite normal I think. Many Victorian terraces - especially more compact ones - only have 1 loo.

I'd never lived in a house with 2 bathrooms until we extended this one. ..none of the houses in my local area (victorian/edwardian housing stock) would have 2 bathrooms unless extended or converted yhe loft at some time!
Its great having the extra toilet but got through dc being young without it so although it wouldn't be a deal breaker i would be looking at where one could go.. .

I'm buying a 3 bed, for me and two children and 2 loos was a must, although I'm actually getting two bathrooms which I'm pleased by