How many bathrooms? Kevin McCloud reveals Grand Designs bugbears

How many toilets are too many for one home? The answer, according to Kevin McCloud, presenter of Channel 4’s Grand Designs, is when the bathrooms outnumber the actual occupants.

After 25 years presenting the programme, McCloud has revealed that one his greatest bugbears is the overprovision of WCs in Grand Design builds.

“Why do people judge the status of a house by how many toilets you can offer your guests? It’s absurd,” he says, in an interview with Radio Times to mark the show’s anniversary.

His biggest bugbear of all? “Things being too big. Most houses could shrink overnight by a third and the occupants would never notice.”

He also despairs over the complexity of builds that could be much simpler. “Complexity has become a demonstration of the need to be grand,” he says.

But McCloud reveals himself as a big fan of Ikea, insisting clever designs can easily incorporate the Swedish home furnishing chain’s budget-friendly products.

“I have Ikea cupboards and drawers; the work surfaces are by Cosentino and the taps are posh. I am a fan of Ikea, the democracy of good design, and also of properly sustainable furniture, and I like doing stuff myself.”

McCloud developed his aversion to excessive numbers of guest loos over years of planning builds and has suggested that, if the trend for status toilets continues, they could become as desirable as the number of bedrooms a property offers.

According to a 2018 study, 82% of two-bedroom homes sold by Hamptons International had at least two bathrooms, while more than a third of four-bed homes had at least four, the Sunday Times reported .

Meanwhile, a 2017 study by insurers Direct Line found that, to make a home more desirable to buyers, it should have two bathrooms for every three bedrooms. That means – according to 70% of the estate agents asked – any four-bed house should have 2.6 bathrooms, and a five-bedroom property should have 3.5 bathrooms, according to Ideal Home magazine.

The publication added, however, that the estate agents surveyed also suggested adding a bathroom might not be the best way to add value. 91% agreed that converting or extending a property to create a bedroom would be a better bet.

McCloud told the Sunday Times in 2019: “Bathrooms are extremely wasteful in terms of resource, yet people are putting more in their homes than there are actual occupants. Four people live in the house and put in six toilets. I don’t understand that.

“You can’t use more than one at a time and, frankly, you only need to use it four or five times a day. Estate agents have always sold houses by the number of bedrooms; soon they’ll do it by the number of WCs.”

The special will be broadcast on 11 September at 9pm, kicking off a brand new season for the show. Grand Designs: 25 Years & Counting will see McCloud revisiting some of the series’ most memorable builds, along with some of its most challenging.

Announcing the anniversary programme, Channel 4 said: “This special episode offers a reflection on the legacy of Grand Designs and its impact on the world of home innovation and design.

“Featuring the most ambitious builds and touching human dramas, with the biggest budget overspends and disastrous delays thrown into the mix, this special will celebrate a true Channel 4 gem in its momentous anniversary year.”

A special 25th-anniversary book, Grand Designs at 25, will also be published.