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?

In my experience of buying and selling old houses (my current one is only 250 years old so not that old), the people who want these kinds of houses are attuned to good spaces and original features.

If I saw a slightly jerry-built sud wall closing off a large landing space & cutting light etc, I'd be knocking down the price by the cost to me of removing such a non-improvement.

I once had a late Victorian terrace with a large landing on the first floor - we could have boarded it off, but instead we used it as an open-plan study. It was big enough to put a good size double sofa-bed there as well, so we used it as a spare room for overnight stays. We used a nice folding screen for privacy for the guest. It was a lovely open airy space on that floor & let light in down the staircase as well.

Yes 9x6 internal.

No, the bathroom for upstairs is at the end of the second hallway.

Christ, are people struggling that much with a floor plan? There's a window, access from the hall and the shower room isn't an ensuite.

There's an additional bathroom downstairs.

I was about to write the same thing! Can't believe so many people are struggling with op's posts & a basic floorplan 😂

I know it isn't the most obvious floor plan with the 'floating' upstairs bathroom but I am now concerned about how confusing people are finding the layout!

I would - when we looked at houses - we wanted 4 bedrooms so the kids had one each - this added roughly back then £30,000 per bedroom - so people must pay it.

It’s probably more like £50K per bedroom.

Those with young kids don’t want the hassle or expense of work so happy to pay via mortgage for ready done bedrooms.

We also have a large landing - no light at all at the moment and we are looking to add velux windows for the light and sea view! It will add to the house value.

But also we could partition for an extra bedroom or bathroom upstairs - haven’t decided yet!!

Go for it! Cheap and adds value - win win.

Could you add a light well to the ceiling - or like PP suggestions glass or bricks to let the light through - genius!! Hadn’t considered this as an option for ours.

I didn't even see it as floating... Just assumed there's something underneath other than fresh air 😂

Not easily for the light well because of how to roof is.

I think we would market it as Office/optional 4th bedroom so I think I would put a door with a frosted window in to let some light through to the hallway. I did think about a transom window above the door but the ceiling isn't high enough.

This ^ 100%!

People will be looking for the land and stables primarily, I'd guess, and if the house is nicely presented it's just a bonus. Whilst I appreciate it would be a pretty quick job to wall off the area, your dream house might've sold by the time it's done and you're ready for viewings, so unless this will actually make your house better for you long-term (and the agent says it will add a worthwhile amount) I wouldn't bother personally. Btw have you actually viewed the potential new house? It might not be worth as much as it's advertised for - good luck!

I think I would do it purely to create a proper office space for your DH. You might not get the "perfect" house you've seen and this would benefit your family going forward. Separate office space would also be a plus when selling.

there are plenty of options with frosted glass panels etc that would bring some light to the landing afterwards. My landing has no natural light due to a side extension and it is slightly annoying when all the doors are shut but not a total pain.

@iknowimcoming I have an agent coming tomorrow so will ask them.
Husband is an ex engineer and electrician so building the wall properly is no problem IF it will add value.
Yes, we viewed the house yesterday. It has been on the market a while with 2 fallen through sales (no fault of the house) but it is very niche and just over £1mil so don't think it will be going anywhere super quickly but at the same time, I am keen to secure it as quickly as possible as I can. Just trying to avoid taking out a £500k mortgage to do it!

I have no idea why people are struggle with the floorplan, maybe because it isn't your usual bog standard box shape 🤷🏽‍♀️

Agree with PPs who have said don't destroy character/proportions of an old building - they'll appeal to the sort of purchasers who'll be happy with the unusual layout that your house has. Agree also that the land will probably one of the things to most attract purchasers.

If your husband (understandably) wants privacy, for now I'd buy a wide secondhand room divider or make a wide floor-to-ceiling bookcase, and use it to partition off the space. Fill the lower shelves with books but the upper shelves with plants etc, to let some light through on to the landing. The study desk would then be screened, with no need for any cheap and inappropriate walls.

Of course, your estate agent might have other ideas. But we have spent time and money ever since we moved undoing cheap and tacky fixes applied by previous owners to a nice, solid house to make it look (in their estate agent's words) in 'completely ready-to-move-into condition'. We SO wish they'd left it as it was before!

So familiar with the minimum width of a corridor and minimum thickness of a stud wall for building regs? And your 9*6 is already accounting for both?

People do struggle with floor plans though. I once sold a house with an upstairs kitchen, marked clearly in the floor plan and described clearly in the particulars - after all, there was no point people coming to see the house if they didn't want an upstairs kitchen, right?

If I had a fiver for everyone who said 'but the kitchen is upstairs' i could have paid off the mortgage and kept it as a townhouse...

Make sure you ask the valuation of a 3 bed V 4 bed - that will be the deciding factor

Do come back and update.

Probably because the bathroom doesn't show on the floorplan unless you click on it to view the full plan - probably different on different browsers. This is how is appears on my phone, just a doorway to nothing.

Well the agent has just left and he said it isn't worth doing so that solves that problem!

I must say I’m very surprised he has said that toddlerterror. How many agents have you had round to view the property?

We were looking for a place with land, stables, and three bedrooms minimum on the basis that we would need to use two as offices. A nice office space on the landing would probably be more appealing than a very very small room.

I'd definitely get at least 1 more opinion, they cost nothing after all. Did they say how much a similar 4 bed would cost? I'm generally 1 to say sell as is and do bare minimum work, but for a small outlay I would have thought adding a room would be more than worth it.

There was a second pic!

Cellophane you are of course entitled to your opinion and there is no 100% right or wrong answer in questions such as these, but the last thing I'd want in a house I was buying was a cobbled-together-on -a-landing tiny space masquerading as a fourth bedroom, and spoiling the look of the upstairs landing and cutting off all light from the stairs in the process. Also, as ther posters have said, the OP's house does not have enough bathroom capacity - just one (big) shower room upstairs - to support four bedrooms.
This is not to criticise OP's house. It sounds as if it would be great for the right buyer, and has the great advantage of lots of land.

the OP's house does not have enough bathroom capacity - just one (big) shower room upstairs - to support four bedrooms.

it has a full bathroom downstairs too.