Ensuite bathrooms are everywhere these days and are fast becoming a must have item in our homes. A report by Nationwide found that, in 1995, just 7% of houses had 2 or more bathrooms. Now that figure has grown to 20% and is as high as 75% for newbuilds.
Our growing love of bathrooms, and ensuite ones in particular, means that adding an extra one is a great way to boost a property’s value. According to the report, it can generate a premium of up to 10% on the average family home. However, if an ensuite is badly planned it can also have a negative impact on the value of a property. The reason is simple - ensuites are mostly created by carving out space from another bedroom and bedrooms tend to be more valuable than bathrooms.
If you’re thinking about installing your own ensuite, here are some things you need to consider.
- Don’t take so much space out of another bedroom that it becomes small and pokey (unless you have lots of other bedrooms).
- In a smaller house, don’t sacrifice an entire bedroom for one.
- It is very common to place an ensuite in an area previously occupied by built-in cupboards. Make sure you still have enough storage space left afterwards.
- Ask yourself whether you already have enough bathrooms. The ideal is one bathroom on every floor where there are bedrooms. One ensuite on top of that is fine, but unless it is a very expensive house, don’t put one in every bedroom. Just imagine all the cleaning you’d have to do! The average 3 bedroom house has just one bathroom and one toilet.
- You can steal space from two different rooms to minimise the impact on a single room.
- Wastewater must run downhill, so the location of your nearest soil pipe is important. If it is a long way away, you can get a pump, but it will add to the costs.
- If you don’t have a window, you should install an extractor, otherwise your ensuite may become damp and mouldy. If there are no outside walls, you may be able to extract the moist air through a flexible tube in the attic.
- For a shower room, you will need a minimum space of 2m x 1.5m or 2m x 2m for a bathroom, although in small, windowless ensuites, you will need good lighting and large mirrors to stop them feeling claustrophobic.
- If your house is not listed, you won’t need planning permission, but you will need the work to comply with building regulations. Leaseholders will need to inform their freeholders before commencing work.
- You will need to make sure that your boiler is up to the job of running another bathroom – just ask a plumber to advise you. If it’s not, it can add considerably to the cost.
- You may need to lift the flooring in adjacent rooms to install the pipework.
- You can spend as much as you like on the fittings and fixtures, but budget for at least £4,000 for a compact 2m x 2m ensuite and upwards of £10,000 for a larger, more luxurious one. The average is £5,000.
If you would like to find yourself something with potential for adding value, why not take a look at all the brilliant properties we have coming up in our next auction at Phillip Arnold Auctions.
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