En suite bathrooms have become increasingly popular and it’s now not unusual for executive new build homes to have nearly as many bathrooms as bedrooms. They have also increased in popularity in the professional lettings market and 2 bed, 2 berth flats are not uncommon in new builds or conversions by developers.
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Is an En Suite a Good Idea for a Family Home?
So should you start to rob your property of bedroom space in order to offer more bathrooms? The answer depends on your reasons for considering it, to a large extent. If you’re doing it to make life easier for you and your family then it is definitely worth considering as long as you intend to stay in the property for a long time and make good use of it.
After all if you feel that you will increase your property value by converting the en suite back to bedroom space, you can always do that when the time comes to move on. Although it will probably be difficult to do because it will seem like a waste of time and money, taking the en suite out isn’t as difficult as putting it in and it won’t cost a great deal of money, certainly less than putting it in in the first place.
Investment Properties
If you are developing a property for investment, then whether or not an en suite bathroom conversion will be a good investment will depend on the market that you are aiming for, whether you are going to rent or sell it when it’s completed, and what the competition is like in the area.
If the largest bedroom is big enough to take an en suite bathroom conversion without making it seem too small, so you’re not dropping the number of bedrooms, then it would probably be an excellent idea. But if the en suite bathroom conversion results in the loss of a bedroom, then it’s time to think again.
As properties rise in size the loss of a bedroom affects it less. For example, doing an en suite bathroom conversion on a third bedroom, dropping a house from a three bed to two, would result in a far greater proportional drop in property value than going from a five bed to a four.
You might be able to shoe-horn in an en suite without losing a bedroom if you employ the services of a bathroom planner, they may well come up with ideas you hadn’t thought of.
En Suite Bathroom Conversion for Profit
If you’re developing a family house to sell on and you’re aiming at an upscale market then there’s a fair chance that other similar houses for sale in the area will have en suites in the master bedroom, at least. If the area isn’t so upmarket then a bathroom conversion might not make sense, you’d probably be better off hanging onto the bedroom space.
The competition won’t have them so your property will impress people, but it’s likely that people with the money for a property with an en suite will want a larger house in a better area.
With a similar property but you intend to let the property then it’s less clear cut. You are unlikely to be able to charge a great deal more in rent just because there’s an en suite, but it may make your property more rentable and result in fewer and shorter void periods. This will need some serious calculation and research on the local market.
En Suite Bathrooms in Loft Conversions
There’s one instance where an en suite bathroom conversion makes complete sense and that’s as part of a loft conversion. Most lofts, if you extend the roof line rather than just use the roof space and put velux-style skylights in, are large enough to take a bedroom as well as a bathroom. If space is tight though, you might need the services of a bathroom planner to work out the best way to fit it all in.