To not sell a potentially £million plus property for £200,000?

[InheritanceDilema]

Got a really sticky situation and need some advice.

FIL has died and Dh and BIL have inherited his house and small holding. We are not local and do not wish to live there. It's BILs dream to live there and he wants to buy us out and will happily pay us half of the £400,000 valuation of the small holding inc the house.

There are eight acres of land and I genuinely believe that planning permission could be got. The fields are in the middle of a village, so surrounded by built up areas/houses on all sides. Obviously if planning permission was gained the value of the land would be a lot more.

Bil has no interest in planning permission or making any money. He wants to live in his childhood home surrounded by goats, chickens and gooseberry bushes living a River Cottage dream. Dh doesn't want to rock the boat and doesn't know what to do.

I know if we did sell it we could put a thing on the sale saying if BIL did in the future get planning permission we would be entitled to more money. But I know BIL wouldn't ever seek planning permission. He won't even consider only having some of the land and planning permission for the rest of it. He wants a couple of ponies and says he needs all the land. I don't want to kiss goodbye to a considerable amount of money just to keep the peace.....we're not that well off. BIL owns 4 houses and already has a fantastic pension as well as rental income and his current house is worth half a million. We're in a terrace with no other houses and while £200,000 is a lot of money i don't think it's fair that BIL expects us to let him have his own way.

[BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted]

How about you do a swap? If the inherited house and land is that important to BIL you swap the 50% interest in it in exchange for his half a million house. He won't be wanting to live in it any longer any way, will he?

Otherwise I wouldn't budge.

[PPie10]

You are sounding greedier by your posts. What does his 3 houses have to do with you? Sounds like you are one of those people who will be in their partners ear stirring. Just leave the issue and be grateful you will be getting something from someone not even related to you.

[InheritanceDilema]

BIL has had an estate agent round and had it valued.

[PerspicaciaTick]

Could your DH sell it to him for £200K with the proviso that if DBIL sells it within X years DH will get 50% of the profit? (or 10% or whatever your DH and his DB agree).

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

It's not your money to kiss goodbye to.

[chickenowner]

It's up to your DH, nothing to do with you at all IMO!

[Mumandmummer]

it would bother me more in the sense that dbil then leaves the property behind to his children(?) in his will and they will benefit massively from him having sat on the land. So your children miss out on a sense. But that's looking a whole new stage down the line. I do think you need to be careful not to let this turn you into a bit of a monster.

[LittleBearPad]

Have you looked at land prices nearby to justify the £3m price you're imagining. Or is it just your imagination running away with you.

Either way it's none of your business

[RNBrie]

Split the land and the house, get the house without the land valued.

Let bil buy half the house from you for whatever the valuation of the house is with rights to use the land until such time as the land is sold.

Keep your share of the land until that time.

You need a solicitor but it should be quite straightforward.

[Babyroobs]

By the way if someone else valued the property and land at £1 million, you will be paying an awful lot in inheritance tax .

[theendoftheshowshow]

Agricultural land really won't be worth much at all. What sort of planning permission will you apply for? You can't just get planning permission for anything. You need to put in at least outline plans to the council. It's not as easy to get permission as you are making it out to be.

[expatinscotland]

This isn't your decision to make.

[AveEldon]

Why not let him live in it and pay you an agreed rent?
Then it can be sold and the proceeds split at a later date

[EddieStobbart]

Could you speak to someone informed about the likelihood of gaining planning permission and the uplift in value that would result? There may be reasons why it's actually unlikely to be granted and the issue is being raised for nothing.

[FirstWeTakeManhattan]

I've tried to put myself in your shoes, OP, but I think

I think you're being grabby and insensitive. BiL wants to buy it; it's worth £400k. He's willing to pay you £200k. You admit he's not trying to make money or fleece you. Are you really willing to drive a wedge between DH and BIL?

just about covers it.

You don't want to live there. It's your BiL's dream to live there, in his father's house and have his smallholding.

Would you really deny him that? He's being fair with you. You say you don't want to agree ' to keep the peace.'

Insist on your own way now, and you might stat a lifetime of family feud. Really, they've started over a lot less.

You're getting over £200K. Don't risk everyone's happiness to get more. Life really should be more than 'getting what's yours.'

[SeraOfeliaFalfurrias]

It's not your land, it's your BIL and DH's to divide up as they feel to be fair and equitable. Be thankful for the £200 you are getting, free and for nothing, and stop being so grabby. Your DH and BIL have lost their father and you're stamping over their grief with pound signs in your eyes.

[Floggingmolly]

All land isn't necessarily worth millions.... If it's in the middle of an already built up village you may well not get permission for any more development.
You are being incredibly grabby . It's actually nothing to do with you.

[MovingOnUpMovingOnOut]

I don't want to kiss goodbye to a considerable amount of money just to keep the peace.....we're not that well off.

I? It's not your decision. Either your dh gets a proper valuation and sell his share or he keeps it and Bil pays rent back to your dh to reflect his share.

Alternatively the brothers may decide to split the land from the house or sell the whole lot.

Whatever happens the brothers must agree and each is an entitled to his opinion as the other.

It may not even be possible to get planning permission of this is green belt land.

[LittleRedSparke]

"BIL has had an estate agent round and had it valued."

Just the one?

[fastdaytears]

You need a proper red book valuation. This will take into account development potential. You needed this for probate any way really, or failing that 3 estate agents. It doesn't sound like this has happened. You can't report the non-development value to HMRC and leave it at that. If it's a taxable estate then the district valuer will look into the development potential anyway.

Once you have a proper valuation then BIL can pay you half and everyone's happy.

[bearbehind]

your thread title is deliberately misleading- even if the land were worth a million, only half is yours so you're talking about £500k or £200k for starters.

It sounds like DH and BIL want to keep the property in the family so it's worth what it stands at as it is.

If I were your DH id be properly pissed off at your mercinary attitude.

[ArmfulOfRoses]

I would suggest a couple more valuations from estate agents that haven't been organised by the brother that wants to buy.
But as pp have said, it isn't really anything to do with you, but your dh.

[ChaostheCat]

It's not just a case of applying for planning permission, you'd need an architect to draw up plans. There's all sorts of consultation before it could be granted (if granted at all). Suspect the locals might not be too chuffed at losing the green space in the village so there might be objections. It wouldn't be instant by any means, do you really want to put everyone through that? I'd take what's being offered.

[AgentProvocateur]

You sound jealous of your BIL's houses and very grabby. You're being offered half the value at the current time. Your BIL has no interest in selling the land for housing. Take the £200,000 and butt out.