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.

I take it you’ve disregarded this due to location? There’s an upstairs bathroom and what looks like room below the stairs for a loo. There are floor boards everywhere downstairs so not even a terribly messy job to have the floors up to add a drain for the loo.

But personally I’d go for a younger property. Much easier to sell on. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142933037#/floorplan?activePlan=1&channel=RES_BUY

We live in a very similar house, it’s not an issue for us!

I would be looking at modern 3 beds. Running costs are much lower and you loose character. But as a parent to an only child, this is where you’re likely to find all the kids for your dd to play with. Running costs are also much lower.

Presuming your budget is 500k tops….This is a 3 bed. Admittedly the 2 bedrooms are both small. The walls on a house like this will only be stud rather than solid. If it’s a bigger bedroom you’re after for your dd, you could put an archway between the 2 bedrooms and have as one big one then reinstate the 2 bedrooms when you come to sell. Otherwise have bed 3 as a playroom… or sibling… https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144382568#/?channel=RES_BUY

Then there are at some at £550 mark if your budget does stretch. All with pros and cons. If your budget will stretch, this one has 3 ok sized bedrooms. Idk if it’s overpriced though as it needs tlc. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86336157#/?channel=RES_BUY

Otherwise this sort of thing would appeal to me much more if I were only having one child or could move in a few years as it’s big enough for a few years. Conservatory = great playroom, hot in the summer… https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145107359#/?channel=RES_BUY

Have you considered the 520k quirky one? Is it in budget? https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144867089#/?channel=RES_BUY
It would be worth a look especially as there’s a mezzanine room in the loft…

Chuff me! Half a million quid for a terraced cottage?

Utterly ridiculous, it’s lovely but I’d want a mansion for that. Ours is probably worth about 250k, it’s detached four bedroom with en-suite, garage etc. Close to a couple of cities but in the countryside, a couple of hours, if that, from London. Just has a less desirable postcode. Something like that round here would probably be about 80k in a bit nice area, up to about 180 in a nice place.

So yes, if you have 500k and have to be in that area, settle for the downstairs bathroom because the house is lovely.

I had friends in this road really near this house until they moved . Fab location hence the big price on a tiny house. You will always sell on because of location. she struggled to get a buyer and she had an upstairs bathroom it's about waiting until the people compromising space for location are around. Her issues were . No storage in the house. Parking is like playing jenga and once a baby came along it took over the house with baby 'things'

It would be an absolute no from me having lived in a house like this for a year prior to buying. I got totally sick of trekking up and down stairs in a towel for a shower, when DH got sick with covid he could barely make it to the bathroom and back. Total pain in the arse

It was the parking that made me say I wouldn't live on that street 😂

I lived in a house like this throughout most of my childhood- so did most of my friends.
The only occasional issue is if you are ill and need loo urgently.
Or I guess if you use the loo regularly in middle of night.
Right now it is working to my mums advantage as she can longer manage stairs so also sleeps downstairs.
Tbh now I would prefer a bathroom upstairs but it's very common to have downstairs bathroom in victorian terraces which still make up at of housing stock in many areas.
Go with your heart.

Nope never again we are 2 adults 4 children and the whole bathroom was downstairs and what a nightmare in the night, bath times,toilet training. A year was enough and we moved and if I had known how hard it was going to be I would never have got the house in the first place

We have a downstairs bathroom only and actually prefer it, it means the bedrooms are really big. Our last house had the bathroom upstairs and the bedrooms were tiny, one double room and two singles, this house 2 rooms are double and the third room is a single but with lots of space. It also means visitors don’t have to traipse upstairs for the toilet (some visitors don’t remove their shoes so it saves me stressing about the carpets! 😂)

Hi, I've had similar layout and had major reservations.....it was great in real life. You only have a shower once or so a day but use the loo numerous times. It's more convenient. If you have only 1 bathroom it's better downstairs. Your guests don't have to go to next floor and I never needed the bathroom in the night so no problem.

Our first house was laid out like this and it didn't bother me having the bathroom downstairs in terms of practicalities...the main issue was it was freezing in the winter and had damp. So I would check what sort of construction it is (I.e. not single skin!). We had no problems selling our property.

I grew up in a house with a downstairs bathroom only so considered it normal and always found it quite convenient as, for most of the day, that is where you are. It also works when when you have friends over - particularly if they have DC - as then the bathroom is easily accessible for them.
You won't have any problem selling it as comparable properties are the same.

I get up multiple times a night for a wee so absolute no go for me, plus don't like the idea of traipsing up and down stairs to get ready. That said, if that's what £500,000 gets you where you are I suspect we'd have to make the same decision and we wouldn't hold off buying. But I'd likely compromise something else, be that bedroom size, prettiness etc. Pretty house, but it would be a major inconvenience for me.

Lovely house. I’d do aloft conversion and have a bathroom upstairs.

We solved this problem with a sofa bed.

My house only has a downstairs bathroom and the house I grew up in did too so I’m used to it.
The only disadvantage is winter middle of night toilet trips. I find it handy for bathing the dog, washing hands when I’ve been in the garden etc being downstairs.

My dog would also be my biggest concern! I've looked at a lovely house with a downstairs bathroom and I couldn't reconcile spending 500k+ and having to walk through the kitchen to use the loo.

Well this will shock some of you, I’m considering a small 2 bed with a downstairs loo for £650k in London.

is it not annoying for the middle of the night wee though?

It’s always funny on these threads where people from cheaper areas feel the need to point out that they could buy a big detached house for the price of a flat or small property in or around London. Like it’s a shock that property prices are different in different parts of the country 😂

I knew they were different of course, but am genuinely completely gobsmacked that anyone would pay half a million pounds for a two bedroom mid terrace. I realise rationally of course that no one wants to and they have no choice but if I was in that situation I would just move to a new area. In fact I did move from the south to the north and I just can’t imagine living back there again now.

We had a house with only a downstairs bathroom when DC were small. It was great! You could leave the dinner bubbling on the stove while you bathed DC. If they needed a wee they didn't have to run up stairs. If they got muddy in the garden or park, no trying to avoid mud on carpets or walls to cart them upstairs for a bath.

How attached are you to the area OP?

Nosy MIL has no excuse to go rummaging about upstairs 😂

You can get loos now for small spaces with a hand basin on top of the cistern. If you could fit one if those in a small space upstairs it could be a game changer.

I would hate going downstairs in the middle of the night, even more so with children. The dangers of finding your way half asleep down probably steep and narrow stairs would bother me.