Turning landing into 4th bedroom to sell

[ToddlerTerror]

I always thought I would live in my house until my dying day but over the Christmas holidays, the PERFECT property came on the market for us. It would be a huge stretch financially so trying to work out how to add extra value to ours.
House is a 3 bed detached cottage with 2.5 acres land and stables and we have completely renovated it over the last 4 years.
I was reading the old particulars from when we bought it and it said about the possibility of adding a forth bedroom on the landing. The landing at the top of the stairs is rather big and a bit of a wasted space. I was wondering if it would be worth putting up a stud wall to create an office/single bedroom. It would measure about 9ft by 6ft. We could do it in a weekend but it would mean the hallway would be dark as no natural light if the doors are all closed but that wouldn't be often.
Would this dramatically add value to the house/ make it more appealing? Or do you think it would make it feel a bit cramped?

I think I would leave it as it is and have the estate agent point out that possibility to interested buyers.

I did think this but I assume this means that we would have to market as a 3 bed on Rightmove/zoopla so may miss people looking for a 4 bed?

Set up the landing as an office but don’t partition it of.

Get an estate agent in and ask them.

This. Like a sort of mezzanine

Would it count as a structural change and therefore need building regs?

Could you partition the area off using screens or shelving, then market as a 3 bed with home office?

It sounds like a great house, and the 2.5 acres and stables might mean someone will look at fewer bedrooms than they need with a view to doing work on it. Speaking for myself, I looked at houses with big compromises if they ticked the difficult & obscure boxes that we wanted.

Hi OP, Home stager here. Yes it would add value. It is definitely worth doing. Is a velux in the ‘new’ hallway an option?

You can put light domes in the roof

Can you put a window above the internal door for some natural light?

9’x6’ is so small though to be really seen as a bedroom? I would make the larger space into a work-friendly space with desk or a reading nook? Absolutely make use of it but putting up a wall to block light to the landing in creating a tiny space feels like a waste.

My landing (4-bed house) doesn't have any natural light, it is basically a thin narrow space at the top of the stairs with 4 bedrooms, a bathroom and an airing cupboard off it - it is more doors than wall.

Would I prefer natural light - yes.
But it didn't put me off buying the house, and I spend almost no time on the landing so it doesn't impact on my use of the house.

9 x 6 is the smallest single bedroom I've seen in new builds!

We have a office made from a large landing space and we put frosted windows in the stud wall to add light to the landing.

It's big enough for a single bedroom if required too.

As it's a stud wall we didn't bother with any planning.

I'd do it.

If the room has no natural light then it may not qualify as a bedroom for building regs purposes and this would mean that you could run into difficulty marketing it as a 4 bed. A buyer relying on a mortgage could have it significantly downvalued at the valuation stage if the surveyor decided it was only a 3 bed. Not sure of the specifics but you should check this before making a decision.

@ToddlerTerror

Where abouts are you OP? I’m genuinely looking for a detached house with land and open on relocation…

I would keep it as is but make it known to the estate agents it can be done as this would be something I would consider should finances allow and try and do it so you don’t loose too much light, i.e velux as without it may put people off a dark landing. Or if can be done cheaply, stage as an open office space. I’d be happy to use it as an office with a decorative pull across partition. It sounds it would be a small 5sqm room which I’d personally deem too small for a bedroom but a home office sounds perfect and many need… including myself.

Sorry I've just re-read and see that it is the landing that would have no natural light, so perhaps not an issue. I would still research the building regs/ valuation issue though.

Actually our home office is partitioned from the hallway with frosted wall panels and a glass door.

This. It can be known as the office area.

I think people who are looking for a 4 bed would be put off by such a small room. Those who want 3 good sized bedrooms and an office would search for 3bed properties as well as 4. If there is that much land, I think most would prefer a nice outdoor home office than a cramped room with no light. I think it would probably have no affect on the price, maybe even go the other way if they wanted to factor taking it out.

I wouldn’t worry too much about natural light on a landing. I should think that a vast number of houses have unlit landings when all doors are closed.

Our house was extended and so our landing has no windows. One of the bedrooms has a pane of glass above the door to let some light in if all the doors are shut, plus some light comes up the stairs. It's not really an issue.

In a 4 bed house having one small single room is pretty common/normal. They are quite often smaller than 6'x9' too

Id ask the estate agents but i would put a desk in the area. Make it look like an office.
does it have a window from said desk to the window?

I would potentially prefer a 4th bed as a buyer.

Put a desk there if it's big enough to be an office?

This