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If I wasn't interested in resale ever, and the showers were really nicely done and not skimpy and hard to clean, I'd prefer showers to baths with a shower. We have a walk in shower and a separate tub, and we've never used the tub! I wish the tub area was totally devoted to a large, well designed walk in shower.
But if I had to think of resale several years down the road, I'd want the tub/shower setup. Anything that is out of the ordinary in a resale can be an obstacle. Your on market home should be as mainstream as possible.
I don't know what mainstream is in the UK, though.
I'd look askance at a house without at least one bathtub. Doesn't necessarily have to be huge, or be in the master bathroom, but none at all would be a turn-off.
Here in the UK we have a house which has an en suite shower room to the main bedroom.
The other three bedrooms are served by on a bathroom which has a bath with an overhead shower.
I can't remember the last time the bath was used as such ie to take a bath.
Suppose I had the bath removed and replaced with a decent sized walk in shower.
Would you buy a house that did not have a bath?
I would in a minute. I live in Houston, TX, and I'm not sure how different British people are from Americans in their bathing habits, but I'm almost 40 and my fiancee is 50. We never, ever take a bath (not even romantic baths). I actually have to dust out our bathtubs from lack of use. All of my American friends are the same way. We don't bathe. We take a 5 or 10 minute shower each morning and that's it. However, some families with kids use the bathtubs when the kids are too little to stand up on their own. Older people are more likely to take baths as well.
I like to have a bathtub just in case. It wouldn't be a deal breaker, but sometimes after playing basketball for hours, I do like to soak in a hot Epson salt bath. It's a nice treat every month or two. A tub is probably useful for kids and pets, too. A few weeks ago I dumped all my white blinds in the tub with some Clorox. For me there is no difference between taking a shower in a tub and taking one in a non-tubbed shower. Picking my leg up about 1.5ft just isn't a challenge - once I'm in, I only move about 1 foot back to soap up and then forward 1 foot when I need to rinse. I'm not sure if I'll ever desire some sort of humongous shower that some like. I'm not trying to bathe a football team.
Here in the UK we have a house which has an en suite shower room to the main bedroom.
The other three bedrooms are served by on a bathroom which has a bath with an overhead shower.
I can't remember the last time the bath was used as such ie to take a bath.
Suppose I had the bath removed and replaced with a decent sized walk in shower.
Would you buy a house that did not have a bath?
More people are doing that in the US; replacing tubs with a large shower. I think it's a bad move. I'd never buy a house without a tub. Many women, like myself, use bathtubs for a good soak and essential de-stressing. It's like a wonderful little escape. Plus, soaking in hot water is therapeutic. Some women even play music during their bath, and sip tea.
There's a contrary trend in the US, now, too, which has been going on for some years. People are installing deep tubs specially for soaking. There aren't "hot tubs", they're just bathtubs that are deeper than the standard, basic tub, or that are a little bigger. Also popular are the antique-style clawfoot tubs. Most luxury homes these days have a deep tub in the master bath.
So no, if I were you, I wouldn't eliminate the only tub in the house. You may be thinking that it would look more modern to convert it to a nice shower, than the old-fashioned tub-and-showerhead affair, but there must be other options to make it look contemporary.
Without a full tub a bathroom that is classified as a half bath. If it has a shower it is a 3/4ths bath. If the home doesn't have a full bath that limits loan options.
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