Bath or shower — which is better for resale?
Keep at least one bath in a family house — buyers with young children filter for it. Beyond that one bath, showers win: they are what people use daily, and a quality walk-in shower outsells a second unused bath. In flats, the bath matters progressively less the smaller the property.
The filter effect is the whole argument: property portals let buyers tick 'bath', and families with small children tick it. A three-bed house with no bath simply vanishes from those searches — not discounted, unseen. That is why the last bath in a house has protected status in our advice, whatever the household's own habits.
Past that single bath, the market has moved: en-suites are expected to be showers, second bathrooms convert to showers without penalty, and a proper walk-in — full-size tray, frameless glass, thermostatic valve — photographs and sells better than the bath it replaced. In one- and two-bed flats, younger buyer pools mean even the only bath is increasingly optional, though a shower over a kept bath hedges perfectly.
If you are renovating to sell soon: keep the bath, add the best over-bath screen and shower the budget allows, and spend on tiling and lighting — the photograph is the product. If you are renovating to live: build the bathroom you will use every day and let the next owner renovate for theirs.
More in small bathrooms & layouts, or browse all 38 questions on the FAQ index.
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