Would you rent a flat were the bathroom is off the bedroom?

[pjoneseter]

Have kinda fallen in love with a flat in London. It’s on a private garden square, safe, close to the tube where I can commute directly into the city.

It’s a two bedroom, but one will be used as an office and have a single bed in it. The only bathroom is off the main bedroom.

We want a two bed so we can have overnight guests/a parent to stay. But it might be awkward for them to have to traipse through the bedroom. For the men, they might as well just take a wee in the kitchen sink if desperate and not wanting to disturb us.

Lots of flats in this area have the same layout as they are conversions from large houses.

No

So basically an en suite? No I wouldn’t as I think the re-sell would be difficult. I’d need to be getting the deal to of the century to consider it. Are you sure there’s absolutely no way of changing layout or adding an extra wc at the least?

Never. A friend lived in a flat like that when we were teenagers. It was beyond awkward having to go through his mum's bedroom when I needed the toilet.

She is renting not buying.

If its only to rent then maybe, if the price is right but not as a long-term prospect and not to purchase

Can you use the master bedroom as the lounge instead?

No....if you had people staying they'd wake you up or disturb you in other ways 😏if they needed a wee. Or you'd have to be up for them to have a shower.

What an odd layout!

That's an option but would still put me off.

It depends how often you are going to have guests.

A couple of times a year, you could always get a sofa bed so you don't sleep in the master bedroom or just put up with it. It could get wearing if it is every few weeks.

Living on a garden square is a huge benefit in London, as is living near a tube with an easy commute.

What are the other options? I would take a flat with only an en suite bathroom over a flat with no decent outside space or an extra 10 minutes walk to the tube or a longer commute. I would rather have a few weekends of being woken up by a guest than lose 20 minutes of my time every day or have no garden.

Or you could get a commode 😂

I'm only half joking. I have a Victorian commode that I bought because it is a lovely piece of furniture. You wouldn't know it was originally a commode. The actual "potty" bit is long gone.

https://www.ft.com/content/df53e183-5ca2-42e3-b52f-09fcdb63d69e

I would definitely consider it.

There are things you can do. Explain to whoever is visiting and if they're regular mid-night wee'ers, insist they take the bedroom and you sleep in the spare/lounge (I have an amazingly comfy airbed that I'd happily sleep on).

If both parties are regular mid-night wee'ers it might be more tricky.

I like a PP suggestion of turning the bedroom in to a lounge, but that of course only works if the kitchen is not off/in the current lounge.

You mean where?

No, I wouldn’t.

I would rent a flat like this yes but I wouldn't buy one as it would be hard to live with long term and potentially hard to sell the property.

I wouldn't if I was planning on having guests, no.

It's not a 2 bed flat if the only toilet is an ensuite, it's a 1 bed with an office/snug.

What if someone needs a shit at 4am? They'll be crapping in your bedroom

There's houses like this too, where they say it's a three bed and price it accordingly, but one of the bedrooms is only accessible through another bedroom - so a walk in wardrobe

Lots of flats in London have this lay out! (Or off the kitchen). I’d prefer toilet off the kitchen if I had to pick.

My first flat had this layout. It was only a one bed though.

We managed. As others have said, it’s not an uncommon layout in conversions

Not unless the layout could be changed to give each bedroom access to the bathroom. Otherwise you might be having a “romantic interlude” when someone needs a wee!