To buy a house with a bathroom downstairs only?

[PennyLany]

We are FTBs and have a limited budget for our area. All properties within our range are small cottages, often with 1 bathroom downstairs only (i.e. no loo upstairs). I know this is a pain point and might make it hard to resell but would it be silly to discard these types of properties fully? Here is an example:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145466324#/?channel=RES_BUY

We are a family of 3 with a small DD.

It is small though if you plan another child, that might be more if an issue.

What a pretty house! I love it and notice that these type of very cute houses in desirable places do actually sell well despite the downstairs bathroom. Mainly to younger people I imagine as the lack of upstairs loo wouldn’t suit older people.

Where the big wardrobe is in the master (yellow bed cover) if you removed that then could you fit a loo and shower. It could be one of those ones where it's basically a shower cubicle with a toilet in? I'd say it could be a bit awkward otherwise. But the house is quite cute. I'm guessing that's a very pricey area? I'd say when your daughter gets older having 2 bathrooms will be better if it would fit?

@Redlarge easy to stop the kids spending too long in the shower in the mornings, when you're in the bath you can keep an ear out for them fighting or whatever they do, you don't have to have visitors traipsing upstairs to use the toilet, no worry of water pouring through the ceiling because the seal round the bath is leaking or whatever and i broke my foot a couple of years ago and couldnt manage the stairs. was an absolute godsend to have it down stairs.

It has pvc windows. (Not original)
Kitchen cupboards are resprayed from original 1990s /2000 pine if you look at mouldings (same with cupboards in front)
It's been considerably hiked since 21 but all cosmetic/prettification not major investment.
You could make middle bedroom a bathroom/ corridor and put extension bedroom, but then why pay top whack?

It would be a deal breaker for me, even though I know Weybridge is nice (but expensive). We have two loos upstairs and even that is a bit of a pita. Ideally, I would like one on each floor!

Lovely house but for me it would be an issue with children, and for me thinking about it.
I have seen houses like this where a jack and Jill bathroom has been put in over the stairs.
Not sure on the logistics of it but might be worth considering?

My friend has a house with a downstairs bathroom & prefers it. His logic is he spends all his waking time downstairs so it saves him having to go upstairs everytime he needs the loo. He says he's up at most once every few nights during the night.

Hes on the same floor as his bathroom almost all the time he needs to use it.

Mind you it's right at the bottom of the stairs right in the centre of the house. I'm not sure I'd fancy the position of the one in the OPs post

I really am shocked at the price! It's crazy. I lived in an end of terrace house up until 3 years ago. We had an extension on the back, a large kitchen with was the original kitchen and bathroom knocked in to one, and an upstairs bathroom put above, and just a downstairs toilet. My friend lives in a terraced house. She has a bathroom downstairs but has taken a small part of her bedroom to create a toilet and sink off the landing. Could that be an option?

I've rented houses like this and our first mortgage was for a Victorian house with an identical layout. We had a 3yr old when we moved in and when we moved out, she was 9yrs old and had a 5yr old brother who'd grown up from birth in the house. They shared a room as well.

It was perfectly manageable. Didn't give it a second thought tbh.

Full disclosure though, it cost us 95k in 2010 and we sold it for 130k in 2016. It sold again 6 weeks ago for 160k. 500k for the same house seems mind boggling!

It's so small, I'm astonished at the price. I have lived in a two up two down with a downstairs bathroom and it was a bit annoying. I think if the stairs went straight up from front to back you could consider a 2 storey rear extension but that house is particularly narrow and the stairs are in the wrong place.

I'd prefer one the Weybridge flats tbh. I wouldn't want to live on that street.

I think it’s fine. Perfect for small children and anyone with limited mobility. And I’m a menopausal woman and feel no need to go to the loo in the middle of the night. If there was only one bathroom, I’d prefer a downstairs one by far.

Why? I think the downstairs loo would particularly suit older people.

I don’t thinks you’ll have a problem selling as it will be a common layout in that type of house in that area

we have a large estate near us of 2 up 2 down mill cottages there all the same

This one looks a much better buy at the same price. Has an upstairs bathroom, bit wider and a bigger garden. The one you've linked looks pretty in the pics it its just decor and you could easily make any houe look
that way. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142202333#/?channel=RES_BUY

Well I’m only 57 but have to use the loo in the night … wouldn’t fancy traipsing downstairs in the middle of the night but that wouldn’t have been an issue a few years go 🤷🏼‍♀️

It’s 85k more @WonderingWanda !

It's worth bearing in mind that those extension bathrooms with three external walls get absolutely bloody FREEZING in winter. Like, 'hover above the toilet seat in the night' type cold.

Mine honestly doesn't!

The original part of the house on the other hand, is like a fridge in winter haha

We had a house similar to that when our ds was young, slightly bigger perhaps but same basic idea. Didn’t actually bother us too much the bathroom being downstairs.

And it’s Weybridge, a desirable area inside the M25 with a pretty good commute- they’re all expensive, locations like that.

Mine was so cold I nearly gave myself bladder problems for holding a wee so long every night. It had not been well insulated when build, and looked a similar vintage to the cottage OP linked to (i.e. very old)

Wow! My house is 1858 but the bathroom/kitchen is 1990 so have insulation etc luckily!

In some areas, the downstairs bathroom is common so resale is less of an issue because all similar homes have the same issue.

Our old house had a downstairs only bathroom. It was fine. The downside was when picked up stomach bugs and had to sleep on the couch as it was too far to get downstairs. We had no trouble selling, we had 3 offers from four viewings, all over asking and this was last year as the market was cooling off. We have an en-suite, upstairs bathroom and downstairs toilet now. I’d say the downstairs toilet is still mostly used. Even in the night. We aren’t regularly up in the night for loo breaks but if we are, we’re probably getting a drink too. Or don’t want to wake others with flushing the toilet. We don’t use the en-suite apart from us showering as the toilet leaks and we’ve not been able to fix it.

If you have a dog, a downstairs bathroom is helpful bath them downstairs and don’t have them tracking mud all through the house. We had DC in the house with the downstairs bathroom too, we’d bath them and then have a cuddle on the couch while we dried their hair, rather than now trying to do their hair in their room.

Personally I’d prefer to live in something like this,

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/141478292

This one’s sold, but shows you what you could get for your money in the area if you had a bit of time to sit and wait for new houses to come on. Slightly bigger and a better layout too.
Also consider that the property you’re keen on is incredibly central- might not be the most peaceful location?