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.

[InheritanceDilema]

There is a slight back story....a long time ago Dh and BIL inherited a property from an uncle. Valued at £40,000. We couldn't afford to buy BIL out. So he said he would buy us out.......but it was actually FIL who wrote Dh the cheque for 20k. BIL couldn't afford it either and asked fil to pay. Fil agreed and that BIL didn't need to pay it back.

So BIL got that house for nothing......though obviously that was FILs choice but it upset Dh. Of course that house is now worth a lot more than 40k and BIL got it for free. Seems like he falls on his feet all the time.

[winewolfhowls]

What would your fil have wanted?

Perhaps to have the family home kept complete and loved?

[cavedescreux]

Get a proper valuation as fast day tears says. Only then will you know what it's worth. You do sound a bit grabby I'm afraid, but a decent valuation should resolve the issue, not just some random EA from down the high street.

[suprepop]

you can get planning permission and value it on that basis without actually doing anything

[MrsWobble3]

I would be very surprised if you could make millions from this. We have looked into a slightly similar situation and once you have taken development costs into consideration the profit attributable to the land is not that great. And even in a village planning permission is by no means certain. So before you cause a family fall out you need professional opinions on your numbers. I think you will be disappointed by what they tell you.

[EddieStobbart]

When my DF passed away, the farm steading was valued and this took into account development potential (highly unlikely in this case).

[suprepop]

sorry, you can "apply" for planning permission and if that comes through you can get a valuation on that basis. The only work it takes is admin, paperwork and some patience

[Babyroobs]

As fastday says , you need a number of valuations for probate. If you sell half to BIL at less than it's true value then the probate people are highly likely to value it themselves. They don't just allow people to sell property to family below market value. We are going through this ourselves with SIL interested in buying late FIL's property. Everything has to be accurately valued.

[LittleLionHeart]

Haven't RTFT but get an overage agreement. So you sell you half for £X but you sell on the basis only that you get a % of eventual sale value too.

[Floggingmolly]

The back story is completely irrelevant . You are a mercenary madam and it's not even your inheritance... If my DH behaved like this I'd be disgusted with him he wouldn't

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

I can totally understand that you wouldn't want to get £200,000 from BIL only for him to sell the whole thing a year or two later for £1million+. But other than having an agrreement/contract in place to give your Dh half on a hypothetical future with plannjng permission sale, I don't think you should do anything.

[Buckinbronco]

With all due respect OP you seem to be pulling figures from the air. Why do you think the land with planning will be worth so much more? I actually bid on land for a property builder for a living and I'm struggling to see why it would be worth so much more just with permisson. It's not like you're building the houses. If the land is that desirable and planning so straight forward it'll sell for a million anyway, planning permisson isn't a big deal whether you get it or the developer does after the sale. Especially if it's as straight forward as you think.

[winewolfhowls]

But that situation was nothing to do with you either you still got money that wasn't earned by you.

I think you are extremely lucky to have inherited any money from anyone at any time. I have inherited one thousand pounds in my whole life and I was bloody grateful for that.

You are just sounding worse with every post

[InheritanceDilema]

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

I haven't said anything to Dh. He has actually brought it up to me saying he's unsure. I haven't said anything as im thinking before speaking and thought I would consult MN in the mean time.

A red book valuation sounds like it might be the way forward. Thanks.

[FirstWeTakeManhattan]

If my DH behaved like this I'd be disgusted with him

Yes, this, absolutely.

[Perseus]

Just put a covenant on the property that states if it is sold you get 50% of the uplift in value above £400k . It is a very common clause put in property sales where there is planning potential.

Get a good land agent form one of the national agents like Knight Frank, etc to advise you.

[Waltermittythesequel]

Jesus, you're mercenary.

And jealous of your BIL too, by the sounds of it.

Leave it to your dh and BIL. You know; the people who were actually left the property?

[BumWad]

The thing is it's only worth £400K? Anything can go up or down in value at any time can't it?

[LaurieFairyCake]

You don't have to own the land to apply for planning on it

I certainly think you could at least make a call to the planning office and enquire about the possibility

The council are incredibly keen now on in-fill development - however if it's in green belt you've pretty much no chance

Call them tomorrow - it really is obviously worth a phone call. Your dh can't decide without the correct information.

[MadisonMontgomery]

You sound very grabby and mercenary. You are getting 200k which you have done absolutely nothing for, be grateful and have done. If the previous 20k bothers you that much then ask BIL to tack that onto your DH's share of the inheritance.

[mrsjskelton]

You're getting 200k for nothing... Don't be so greedy.

[Whatthefucknameisntalreadytake]

Don't be so greedy. Don't turn down 200,000 pounds because somehow you think you deserve more than that.

[Lunar1]

Your bil has 4 houses so presumably will know the worth of that land with planning permission. I wouldn't be so quick to believe he won't want to develop the land.