Getting rid of downstairs toilet

[Toiletconundrum]

My house needs a 4th bedroom, which will be created from some dead space downstairs. In that dead space is a toilet, which is quite large and really in a rubbish spot as the room ideally would be either a bedroom or an extra living room.
Leaving it there will make a pretty small room, and it will be in the way, with everything revolving around said toilet. Unfortunately the wall needs removing along with it to free up space.
This leaves us with one bathroom, which tbh is all we’ve ever known, but I know two toilets is a thing
I have three options really.
Try to get the Utility room rejigged and it put in there, but I have a microwave etc in there, so it’s not ideal (room not huge either)
Try to get a toilet built on the side of the house
Apply for planning permission and get it built onto my bedroom.

I have no idea really. My gut says a toilet built onto the side downstairs is probably the most sensible, but I’ve no idea on price for this kind of thing. I just cannot see how I could get it into the utility, but the utility or building on the side would mean we could use the existing plumbing.
I hate to take a toilet out, but it’s just been put in a really stupid place.

For resale YES having a bathroom and a bedroom on the same floor. A contractor could assist with redesign of your utility room. Whatever the cost your home would increase in value with 4 beds and two baths.

I’m not looking to sell any time soon, if ever tbh. They created the extra toilet downstairs, but it’s such a bad design leading basically to a toilet in the middle of what should be a 11x11 (ish) room. Leaving it there makes a small bedroom with the over riding feature being a loo, and there’s just not enough space.
I might ask them to look at the utility and see what they can do, but that’s a small room, I can’t see how it would go in there, but my sensible head says that’s where it needs to go, even if the sink comes out (pointless we don’t use it) and I get a very compact one that fits in there.

Easiest would probably be to split the 11x11 room to make an 11x8 room plus a teeny compact cloakroom.

Post a floor plan and we might have alternative suggestions.

How many are in the family? 2 toilets isn't just a thing for the sake of it- its a minimum in some households due to health issues, managing stairs, toddlers, teens, waiting ages for the loo etc!

If you have to take the sink out to create room in the utility you could put a loo with sink in its place so you can wash hands.

I read somewhere that houses that were built in last 15 or so ( can't remember exact time frame ) years need to have a wheelchair friendly loo on the ground floor and that you can't remove it.
If yours is big then it might be because of that. So don't remove it until you have this checked out.

If you need to have 4 bedrooms then I would have thought you really need a second loo.
Don't underestimate how long teenagers spend in the bathroom.

The house is 1950s, the owners created it. I’m going to try to find a way to shoehorn in the toilet with a sink on the back into the utility I think. Then there is a toilet, that’s not in the way

Any extension work would be expensive. We got a quote about ten years ago to extend the utility room with a 3ftx3ft extension so we could fit a loo in the end of the utility and the quote was 9k. Not sure if he just didn’t want the work but he was the only builder who bothered coming back to us, the others never came back with a quote. Maybe the job was too small to bother with.

Tbh unless there’s a full bathroom on the same floor (eg with a shower/bath/wet room not just a loo) it’s never going to sellable as a 4 bed (rather an extra reception/study/playroom etc). A downstairs loo is a thing but the question becomes “does a 3 bed need a downstairs loo?” I’d argue not. It sounds like it’s been poorly extended so I’d do what’s right for your family.

Utility seems the best option. Would there be any way to take a corner out to make a pantry cupboard with door onto the kitchen (for the microwave and over flow food) then make the rest a lootility with the washer and dryer stacked to save space? Ditch the big sink if you don't need it to make more space.

Moved from a house with a downstairs toilet to one without . Now I am older with a dodgy knee I really
miss it . It’s also good when you have visitors. I would hang onto it if you can .

but the question becomes “does a 3 bed need a downstairs loo?” I’d argue not.

I'd argue the opposite. It really does limit options when reselling.

A downstairs loo isn't just "a thing". It's a Building Regulations requirement, certainly in England and Wales.

These rules don't just apply to new builds. They also prohibit modifying a property by removing an existing downstairs loo (more specifically, a toilet on the floor where the main entrance is located) unless you replace it with another somewhere else on that floor.

https://www.labc.co.uk/news/can-downstairs-toilet-be-removed-home

If you're planning to stay for life, then a small en-suite bedroom would be sensible. You may need it yourself one day.

So I can’t remove a toilet that the owners just added themselves??
To clarify, I am not looking to sell at any point, and I’m not trying to market it as a 4 bed, it would be 3 with two reception rooms, but one of those rooms needs to be used as a bedroom until the eldest goes to uni etc, at which point it could feasibly go back to how it was.
I think I am going to have to try to get one in the utility, but it won’t be as big as the one I have at all

As a pp says you won’t be allowed to remove a downstairs loo once one exists.

Can you post a floorplan - even a rough scribbled one?

We shoehorned a loo into our utility just like the one above, with a sink above it. Worked fine. I think you need to get clarity over building regs as that was that was the reason we had to have one downstairs.

So the plan is to put a wall across where the utility is and remove the loo. Either way that would have to be shrunk down.
If it makes any difference it’s all stud walls, so it’s been created by them in the last couple of years

That is a strange layout leaving a really small dining room. Can you make use of the area under the stairs between the living room and utility? That looks like dead space at the moment. Either put the toilet there, or put the utility there and the toilet in the utility?

Yes it’s a ridiculous layout.
That area is too small for a dining room. It’s a pointless space tbh. That’s why I’m shutting it off to make a reception room/bedroom, because it’s just silly. I’m reopening the door into the front room as currently you walk the whole way round to get to the front room

I also found this, re building regs. My house is built in 1950, and the stuff is being capped off and therefore reversible, so I think I am not falling foul of anything. If it was a new build that would be different

The under stairs cupboard is tiny

Move the toilet to utility.
Can use the utility as laundry room and toilet combo - looility. As it’s close it shouldn’t be too bag to move piping and water is there.

Make small Kitchen utility in the area under the stairs. You can have microwave there.

All much cheaper than extension, and you actually get a spacious downstairs loo then.

I could potentially lengthen it out though. But you see what I mean, the house layout is not right