Giving house to step-daughter?

You sound so generous it’s really delusional!

She doesn’t have children yet and these hypothetical children won’t be your “grand babies” I’m afraid.

It is mind boggling how much money is being thrown their way. They are exceptionally well earning for a couple in their 20s. They don’t need a 4 bedroom house with a big garden and trampoline, that is delusional.

Why on earth do you feel the need to pay their childcare as well?! And baby sit for them??

How about your niece and nephew - how much do they earn and are they doing to get a 7 figure property in London too!

@Runsyd a million pound home really isn't that massive in London. In fact, you won't even get one in a decent area within 45 mins door to door commute from the City. And you're looking at 3 bedrooms max, maybe a tiny garden, and on street parking. Not exactly a mansion.

I have a "modest" flat. It's worth £500,000. It's a one bedroom flat in zone 3. And they don't go up in value like they used to. So when you factor in stamp duty and moving costs, you may as well wait another year or two, especially with how high the interest rates are right now.

Stamp duty - why on earth would anyone move more times than they actually need to anywhere in the country.

Stamp duty needs a rethink. Instead of paying it on the whole sum you should only pay on the extra value for example

House 2 £600k - House 1 £350k = Stamps Duty should be calculated on £250k Not the £600k

The current system penalises people who want to move a few times to climb the ladder

Yes definitely do what makes you happy, as long as you are covered for any future care you may need, as you don't know what they might be. Hard to look so far into the future.

Glad you have clarity now OP. Why don't you save the rental income for the next couple of years while they continue to save up.

That way you can see what it's like to not have it.

@IsMadl it's not about cruises and charity. It's about illness and cost of living. You have no idea what the next 20 years will bring and that extra money will be the difference between a miserable, stressful, painful retirement vs one where you can buy in help and comfort.

My FIL needed knee surgery. He was in AGONY. NHS said minimum 18 months wait. I cannot express how miserable he was. And the lack of exercise would have meant his health would have deteriorated massively in those 18 months.

So he paid 12k cash for private surgery and moved on with his life within weeks. He's now a happy healthy active pensioner.

You sound lovely OP. How wonderful your SD brings so much joy into your lives. And now a GC too.

Good that this thread has clarified some ideas. I said earlier, better to give money now rather than in some long distant future. London house prices are insane too.

Good luck with whatever you decide

Surely there'd be quite a hefty CGT bill here too though?

I think it's lovely you want to help your SD and your parents don't actually get a say in it anyway. But you know their feelings now so can navigate them!

If you don't need the rent, you could use this to fund your SD and maybe guarantee a larger mortgage for them? The asset is protected from CGT and when the time comes, your beneficiaries can inherit (your parents don't need to know who they are....)

Or if you do sell, you could say you hadn't factored in CGT so you'll need to add to your pension....

In the meantime get tax advice as to whether you need to add your DH to the deeds etc.

You sound like a lovely step mum.

Absolutely this. It would be a lovely thing to do.

As someone also unable to have children of our own, I have no problem with leaving everything to my wife's nieces. Your sd has been in your life a long time. Who cares if they already earn good salaries. Giving them this money means that they will be able to give their child so much more...do it

Bit of a reverse there
They were " struggling" 5 minutes ago!

Why are they sending details of houses that are currently way out of their budget? Why are they not sending you details of properties they can actually afford to buy? I really hope they don’t see you as a cash cow.

Honestly stunned that people expect to move straight into a million pound home straight away. What the hell happened to the days of buying a modest flat as your first home?

Have you considered transferring your property into her name as a gift? So she gets the rental income and you don’t hand £££ tax to the government?

Ah, so the extra bed is partly so they can fit the grandparents, that makes sense.

Wimbledon Park all day. Greenwich is cut off from the rest of London in its own little SE bubble.

Sorry OP x-posted

It actually makes a lot more sense with the OP's latest update. They have a stable rental and are not looking to move to similar, instead a 'step up' which is sensible.

Many people have to climb the ladder, either because they can't afford the next step without house price growth or because of bad rental experiences (the latter my case) but this doesn't apply to them.

Also in 2 years... They might have saved enough /gotten a salary jump and not need any, if much help from the OP anyway.

my only comment is if op's gift to sd will be ringfenced in case of sd's divorce or is op gifting to bothe sd and sd's dh?

as a young couple, personally, i wouldn't want this gift if if might make my so called partnership questionable. considering her dh earns 50k-70k annually more than her, ring fencing anything for sd might just sour their relationship. so only give if you are happy for her dh to have a claim on it.

Ethics aside personal finance is different from knowledge about the financial markets which is what he says. He's unlikely to be up to date on all the nitty gritty of regulation, tax structures, etc.

Got a tear in my eye reading that. There are so many awful step-family stories on Mumsnet.

Say you sell it for £300k, I’d give her £250k it’s a round number and then save 50k for yourself.

Sorry op, I think it's wonderful you want to help your daughter, and it's obvious you've considered your choices and this is the best place for your money to go. Being generous is great! I guess I have a (perhaps misplaced) instinct against someone being too spoiled, or you putting yourself second to make them more well off, but that's my own bias, and partly based on them looking for a four bed when they are just starting out.

But you love her and want to see her settled, which is legit.

I think we will speak to someone financially literate (maybe her husband!) to see about mitigating costs etc.

You can't get independent financial advice from someone who is involved! They have a conflict of interest, and ethically, they should refuse to advise. Find an experienced accredited professional who is unconnected to anyone in either family. Anyone who might benefit or lose out from the arrangements you make is compromised.