I know this can't work but hear me out

[CrazyBatIknow]

My sister and I will inherit a 4 bed detached house on the edge of a village. Will go on the market for approx £400k.
The close that the house is in is occupied by 8 other houses. All lived there for 30 plus years.
This is a hypothetical situation currently but I want to sell it for £200k (approx) with caveats about not reselling in a certain amount of time, allowing a young family to move in to a house they couldn't thus afford. I may sound a complete twat- my sister and I would love the money but £100k each would change our lives immensely plus another family's life. What haven't I thought of? Am I a complete knobhead?

There's the risk that whoever bought the house at a knock down price would simply sell it on at market value, as I don't see how this could be prevented. What's so bad about allowing a family who can afford it to buy it? There would still be children enjoying the place as you envisage. You could then make a donation to a charity if you wanted to.

Also, £100K each might sound like a lot, but imagine a few years of rampant inflation, or you and / or your sister needing expensive care in later life. You need to consider your own interests first.

Has your sister actually agreed that you can give away £100K from her half share too? I assume not as you talk about buying her out and her needing the money. Her share would be based on selling the property at market value ie £200K so are you happy to give away your entire share.

Even if you are raising your children to be independent and don't want the money set them up a trust of £50k each to see them through uni or a house deposit.

By the way in many parts of the country a £400K house is what a young family would be buying anyway.

They're is a house in our village which was owned by the Quakers and when sold it carried a permanent caveat that it should never be sold to become a pub (it has been a pub at one time in its past). So I think there are legal mechanisms for conditions of sale but how enforceable they are and I imagine it would take a load of legal work to make happen, so that's one practical issue.
The other issue is how you choose a worthy buyer, anyone could present themselves as a family needing a leg up onto the property ladder but in reality not be who they say they are, and in fact be a developer or whatever. So I don't think it would be possible to ensure your sacrifice achieved your desired aim.
I think pp suggestion of feeling as normal and putting any money you don't personally need in trust for your children, that will be life changing for those 4 people and you know they will be genuine recipients of the gift.

Selling as normal

Stop being irresponsible OP.
Sell it at market vale, and give away money to your kids, if you are happily settled where you are.
They ll spend it on uni fees, house deposits, travelling, on your grandkids etc...they need it and will be grateful.

If you sell the house for the full market value, it will probably still have a family in it with kids enjoying the environment. You can give preference to families when you consider offers.

Then you can invest 50k for each of your kids to help them with a deposit on a house in the future.

I'd advise taking the money and getting your own place mortgage free, which is perfectly possible in many areas except the obvious ones.
If you're on a low wage you won't have a big pension. Being mortgage free makes life so much easier for those who earn little

You can still choose your buyer even if you sell at market rate. When the offers come in, choose a family. That's how we got our current home, the seller wanted a family, our rival buyer was an older man who was likely to do it up and sell for profit... They sold to us, our kids went to the local school, which needed pupils at the time, we became part of the community... All nice.

@Clickandcollect82 why do you have to be so unpleasant?

I think it's a nice idea, but even if you could put that caveat on, and it was enforceable it might not be as good of a deal as you think. Even with a great price I (personally) would constantly worry that I wouldn't have the option to sell if I needed to - for example what would happen if a few years down the line one if the parents needs to relocate for work/other reasons, or they get made redundant and can't afford the mortgage any more etc?

Ah, reminds me of family friends who were badgered by a neighbour to sell him some land off their garden 'to safeguard his privacy.' He even said, "I know that it's worth >£200K to you but I can only offer you £2K. I want you to consider my offer in good faith for the sake of being good neighbours."

Long story short, he decided to sell off some of his garden, including a bit he had bought off a different neighbour (other side) who had sold to him. Oddly enough, the binding agreements he'd insisted on for his privacy weren't enforced for their privacy.

I think it's a lovely idea.
I also think there's a really high chance you'll just give a massive boost to someone who is in no particular need of it in the first place... Because you can't probe the lives of your buyers to know who is a genuine case of being a family 'who otherwise couldn't afford to buy'.

I think it's fab that you are content without a large inheritance and want to help others enjoy a previous childhood such as your own.

I can't see it working though, some chancer will bag a bargain and it'll line the pockets of the wrong person, or at least you've no way of stopping that happening sadly.

OP, I get your pride in being independent and wanting your kids to grow up resilient and independent, but To be blunt, what happens when you retire? How will you pay your rent? Because if the answer is Housing Benefit because you only have state or v low pension, that’s not independent.

And while you may not now be able to buy somewhere big enough for the 5 of you, once your kids are grown and flown £200k plus the interest (potentially another £100k) over 10 years will be plenty to buy a place for just you.

You clearly have a lot of empathy and drive to help others - these are good traits if channelled properly.

However, this is too self sacrificing and likely to end in (your) tears. The benefit will likely go entirely to one family less in need than your own.

Can you sign the house up to house a Ukrainian family in the short term, which will help in the way you intend. Use any income to give yourself lower work hours and free time, some of which you can use to get involved in the local council or a domestic violence charity. Someone with your background and experience would be really valuable and your sense of helping will be more prolonged and satisfying.

Dont can the whole idea to help because one idea isn't right - it's coming from a good place. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.

I'm sorry but my mum did this; gave away 10s of £1000s she inherited from our abusive dad to charities that she felt needed her more than her two adult children, who having also coped with an abusive childhood and family suicide, did not achieve adult milestones as well as expected. That money would have been life-changing for each of us, but instead she spunked it on a manipulative charity who took advantage of her good nature. Yes I resented my mum for it. Your family, your children, should come first.

My mum, whom I suspect of having covert narcissistic personality disorder did something like this. Inherited a house and decided to sell. She started going on about how it needed to go to a local family and all this rubbish (she has several children, including me, who could have done with financial assistance). She did sell to a local family at a massive undervalue and went on about how kind she had been and how she was ensuring that nasty investors didn’t get the house. The estate agent thought she was insane. 10 months later, the couple in the family split and they sold at full market value and divided the proceeds (you can’t put stipulation on resale unless you retain ownership). I am not the sort of person who believes that I am owed an inheritance and I am financially independent but it stung that these buyers got a windfall and my siblings and I got nothing because of my mums desire to be a saint.

15 years later, she did something similar (although not nearly on the same scale) with another asset she inherited).

Don’t be my mum.

OP sell it for the market value and make a huge impactful donation to a local charity that provides for struggling families. Surely that's a better plan!

OP, I'm pretty sure it's not allowed to sell a property significantly below market value. My brother was offered a house from a friend that was priced significantly below market value (95k for a 3 bed detached) and the solicitors threw up giant red flags about it. Can't remember exactly what but it was something along the lines of money laundering and people making deals under the table to give cash in hand and a lower property value for less fees, stamp duty etc.

He made enquiries about mortgages etc but the majority of mortgage companies do valuations nowadays and they flagged up that the price was unexpectedly low and they wouldn't offer him a mortgage because of that.

This all happened in the last 3-4 years so I'm pretty sure it's still a thing

I think they would just sell it and pocket the other 200k to be honest. I think there may be better ways to be charitable

That's definitely a possibility; I know of two councils who do this in the local area as they are short of housing stock for larger families. This may be worth exploring.

The neighbours will hate you op. When they come to sell people will see your sale price and try to downvalue theirs.

Plus, it will attract buyers who will lie. You'll get a family no doubt but they'll put it back on the market at it's true value to make a profit.

£200k is a life changing amount of money. Use it for your own gain.

Yep pretty sure you can't sell much under market value because of money laundering laws.

Sell for market value and invest the money in ISAs for your children's future and education. One day they will be the families moving into houses, you will have helped them do it.