private co-ownership

patella

We own a cottage that we have let successfully for many years. The current tenants, a very nice young couple, wish to buy a house now and indicated that would like to buy the cottage so they could get on the property ladder without moving. We are willing to sell as we wish to retire and move away. We have had the cottage valued and it is beyond the budget of our tenants. It occurred to us that it might be possible to enter into some sort of co-ownership deal with them along the lines of selling them part of the equity now with the option to buy the rest later or to split any increase in value if and when they want to move. I can see that such an arrangement might be fraught with difficulty and dangers and would need a legal document to protect both parties but I wondered if anyone has experience of such an arrangement between people who are not related. Advice would be very welcome.