Removal of ensuite- thoughts please?

[SeLHopeful2024]

Back again with more questions!

What are everyone's thoughts on removing an en-suite?
Would it negatively impact future value?

For context, small house in SE London.
Main bathroom is not much bigger than ensuite, tiny landing so very close.

Bedroom could have big walk in wardrobe or just more floor space if removed.

Downstairs WC is also present.

Ensuite would need to be replaced as it is old, but claustrophobic with sliding doors and I believe no natural light.

As a family of 3, we definitely don't need it, but would this affect future sales?

Thanks.

I think they have had their day to be honest. Fine if you have an attic conversion or bedrooms on a top floor as no one wants to be going downstairs in the night but for a big standard house they are ridiculous.

I disagree. Why do you think most new university halls are now built with en suite bathrooms?

@RampantIvy that's slightly different because university students don't want communal bathrooms they have to share with strangers.
When it's your family you can share.

This was the first question my DP asked.
It looks like it's more a vent than a fan.

We often have people to stay. I wouldn't be without our en suite.

@Myhusbandhasdogbreath Oh that's a good point about being up & down all night.
My husband is constantly trekking to the loo - think it's probably his prostate?

I would get him to have that checked out in case it is prostate related.

Thanks everyone.
It's really interesting to hear everyone's views.

We don't have the luxury of funds to do this straight away, but it's really good to gauge thought.

The house is around 71sq m so really small compared to places I've lived outside of London.
I guess if we do remove it, I hope it's an equally desperate small family who move in after us and they forego the ensuite.

We've not had visitors for the last 8 years we've been in a 1 bed flat, so we'll work out what works best for us using the space.

Get rid. In a house that size with 2 loos already it’s a waste of space.

Don’t understand the ‘weird’ comments. I love my en-suite as since having kids I need to pee more in the night so that’s one plus. It’s got a door and windows. It’s got a shower cubicle and the main bathroom has a bath and shower over the bath so 2 people can have showers at the same time. When guests come they have the main bathroom and we use the en-suite and it’s great. I never had one previous to this but I would want one in the future too.

I'm from the US I don't understand how families can exist with only one bathroom. Sorry but I wouldn't just want an ensuite but I'd want a his and hers primary bath.

it depends on the floor plan, i don't like the floor plans where the bathroom is at the back of the house, beyond the kitchen so that the trek from the bedroom to the toilet means you travers the entire home.

If the house is small (as the OP says it is) I don't think she going to be worrying much about visitors.
As there is also a downstairs toilet I really don't see the need for 3 of them. I'd rather have the space for a Lego room storage.

@RampantIvy it's a totally different arrangement in a halls of residence. What a weird comparison. 5-8 strangers living in a flat versus one family of 3!

We would definitely like a lego room. We've got so many big kits still to build.
I don't think this place will give the space to display much.
But...maybe a stepping stone to a one that will!

I think in the majority of cases we just have super tiny houses, especially in London.

I won’t do it in this house, but when I move I will turn any en suite into a walk in wardrobe and have a fully functioning bathroom.

Does anyone else find that an en suite in a house up to 40 years old usually means that the family bathroom doesn’t have a shower (at all in my case until I put one in)?

I don’t get it tbh.

Does anyone else find that an en suite in a house up to 40 years old usually means that the family bathroom doesn’t have a shower (at all in my case until I put one in)?

No. Both of our bathrooms are full sized bathrooms. The ensuite has a shower, loo and wash basin and is the size of many house bathrooms. The main bathroom has a large walk in shower, bath, loo and wash basin.

DH gets up a lot in the night and uses the ensuite. I am nearer the house bathroom on my side of the bed and tend to use that.

Neither of us uses the ensuite for anything other than a wee when the other is in bed. Besides, if the ensuite smells the window gets opened. It isn't rocket science to keep it smell free.

I don't understand the dislike for ensuites. I can only conclude that those who don't like them have selfish and thoughtless partners. I have never met anyone in RL who wouldn't want an ensuite, only on MN.

The problem isn't the bathroom but the users.

In your case @SeLHopeful2024 as you already have a downstairs loo I don't think taking the bathroom out would be a problem. I would just cap the plumbing off in case a new owner wanted to convert it back.

I think removing an en suite which is an eu suite which was purposely and solidly built (and a had window) would be a bad idea. However, the OP's sounds like an add on that by removing part of the existing bedroom with with flimsy door and walls so it's a good idea to remove it.

Personally as a person who isn't in either the want an suite camp or the don't want an ensuite camp, I think that that would put me off the house, whereas an en suite that's built like an extra room leading off the bedroom would appeal.

Can't help thinking even for the en suite lovers a shower and loo behind a thin wardrobe like partion isn't what they are aiming for!

This is exactly how I feel.
I'd love for us to be in a position to afford 'proper' sized rooms and a bedroom with a separate ensuite build with doors, window, fan etc.
But, at the moment this is the compromise we are making to try and stay near London.

It's just so different buying here to the North East.

in a small house storage is always at a premium so a walk in wardrobe would be better as it seems that you have enough toilets/bathrooms

I personally like en suites and would not buy a house without en suite to master.

But ultimately you are buying the house for what you want. Not someone else.

As other people have suggested, you can terminate the services in a way that they can be reconnected fairly easily if or someone else wishes.

Suspect you aren't picturing what is often meant by an en suite here in the UK. They can be fine when houses are built with them and there is room for them, but so often here someone takes an already small bedroom takes a chunk out of it to make a cramped little en-suite, which will just about fit "space-saver" versions of a shower, sink and loo, and it feels like you are washing in a dark, gloomy cell. And then your bedroom ends up cramped and you've got no room for your clothes because you have a miserable ensuite. I'd rather use a bigger bathroom with a window and room for a big vanity sink etc. which feels much more luxurious to me than having a wash cupboard attached to my room.

If you have a nice big bedroom, with a purpose-built en-suite that has room to have nice fittings, especially if others have said where it's part of dressing suite, then fabulous. In 2-bed UK terraces, they are grim.

We just used our ensuite as a dumping ground, no way could you have a shower or get to the loo.

Yes it will affect sellability and value. It sounds like a small house though, and if a three bedroom house may not be needed. What are the rest of the houses on the street like? If they all have en suites I'd keep it as it would be expected.
However your house should also suit you, and if you'd rather more bedroom space or wardrobe then do that.

@GettingStuffed that reminds me of a scene in Malcolm in the Middle when the parents discover their stuffed full of junk cupboard is actually a second toilet they had forgotten about 😂