Would you buy a house without a downstairs toilet?

[AmusedMaker]

There is room to put one in ( house is a semi with plenty of room at the side ) but obviously this will cost.

The house is mine & I’m thinking of selling but just interested in your thoughts?
would it be a definite no regardless of whether there’s space to put one in ?

We did no issues at all

We’ve never had one, wouldn’t bother me. I wouldn’t spend money putting one in if you’re selling - doubt it will add much onto the value / offers especially at the moment. Maybe just point out there’s the space for one

I wouldn't as it was a specific requirement for us otherwise my mum couldn't visit our house. We did look at a couple where we could fit one in, but that would have been a consideration on any offer we put in due to the costs of it.

I'm not a precious buyer, but it was important that my mum could come and visit.

People have all sorts of deal breakers. Don’t do anything big to the house in order to sell it, people have different priorities.

Not if I could help it. I'd certainly be putting it at the bottom of my pile (if a pile existed!) whilst I exhausted other options first.

We use our downstairs loo a LOT. But for me I really find the benefit for guests. Knowing I only have to speed clean half a house for visitors as they never need to go upstairs does wonders for my motivation 😂😂

Depends on the size of the house.
The first house we bought didn’t have one, two bedrooms, front door opened straight into the living room. It would have been nice, but tbh it was a tiny house and if there had been space I would have probably preferred cupboard space for shoes etc. The house still met our needs at the time.

Now we have a bigger house with two bathrooms upstairs and a downstairs loo. I never use the downstairs one, but it is handy for guests. Still it was a reason for us preferring this house when buying, but not the only or main reason.

Put one inn- could make or break a sale in a tough market

I really hate downstairs loos. Why would you want to have a toilet in close proximity to the kitchen and/or living space where everyone can hear you peeing while they watch strictly?

A downstairs toilet is always useful, and I’d not buy a house with no room for one, but I’d rather buy a house without and install one myself to my own plan, than buy one where the vendor has installed one just to sell.

It’s on my list of must-haves for us with toilet training so not having to run up and downstairs all the time and avoiding more accidents, but without little ones, less mobile people or people with certain medical conditions I wouldn’t say it’s essential depending on family size etc. Although there was a moment when norovirus tore through the household a few years ago that I was very grateful for the extra toilet I must say!
But in actual fact if my family stage was different, there was space to put one in, and buying one without made the house purchase cheaper I would consider that and put one in when I had the time, energy or inclination.
I wouldn’t bother pumping money into something like that for a house you plan to sell though. I don’t think it adds enough value to be worth the cost and effort, especially when you factor in worst case scenarios that could happen where the project hits unforeseen snags. It has to be something you either have the benefit of using or that adds way more financial value than outlay.

No

Without one, MIL would have had to go into a care home but luckily she could live downstairs as there was one.

The older I get, the more I see a need for one - didn't have one up to aged 40, then haven't had one for the last 6 years but I'm putting one in with space for a shower in case it's needed at a later stage!

I would buy but put one in immediately

I would, as long as I could put one in easily myself.

Not if I was planning on it being my forever home. If it was just a 'for the next few years' home then yes I would consider it.

it is a non negotioable for me, but that is because we work for a church and so have people round all the time for meetings etc, and I didn't want them all going upstairs, especially in the evening when kids are in bed.

But that is a very specific set of circumstances.
I know plenty of houses without, 2 loos are handy but then so are a lot of things!

Yes we did, it ticked most other boxes and there is space to put one in (we just haven't yet 6 years down the line....)

Yes but I wouldn't buy a house without an upstairs toilet. I hate walking down the stairs in the middle of the night to go.

I could probably forgo a downstairs toilet. But my guess is that if you don't have one there is a high likelyhood you only have one toilet in the house, which is toilet poverty unless you are only a single person. Having only a single toilet would bother me more than where they are located.

Toilet poverty? There are 4 of us with only 1 loo at my house. It's not perfect but never considered we're living in poverty!

It would really put me off if there was no downstairs loo. Sometimes I look at the most gorgeous houses on Rightmove and suddenly realise there isn't one. And yet they've often obviously spent a fortune on doing up the place, stylish kitchen and bathroom (etc) all lovely and yet no downstairs toilet. It feels like they didn't finish the job why wouldn't you put one? Wham, straight off my Saved Properties list on Rightmove. In a detached house especially it is now an expectation.

Apart from the usefulness for guests etc, I am afraid I really need to not be up and down the stairs all day these days! Also my elderly Mum who now has mobility issues would really struggle to visit without one.

Unless the house is otherwise gorgeous and there is an obvious space to put one? I would knock down the price to do it though. Anyone know the approximate cost to install, any pitfalls etc?

I think most people these days would consider that unacceptable.

I think all new houses are built with at least 2 toilets. I have no idea whether one upstairs is mandatory but I think one downstairs is as part of building regs.

My first house only had a downstairs toilet, and my current one has two upstairs and none downstairs (we're putting one in soon though). Toilet training with only upstairs loos is hilarious - lots of running upstairs squeaking 'IneedaweeIneedawee' and then getting distracted halfway up... To answer the OP - it didn't put me off buying the house, though I'd rather there'd been one.

I also think having one or not depends on what area you live in (rather than being an unnecessary extra for posh people, as some PPs seem to be implying). If all the 'normal' or affordable houses where you live are slightly older terraces or semis that didn't have one originally, then it'll seem normal not to have one. If they're newer houses they most likely will have one because it's a requirement now to future-proof housing in case you become less mobile.

lol of course

wouldn’t even cross my mind

As long as there was room to put one in it wouldn’t bother me at all