How much to give?

Not mean at all. You have one life and you have to enjoy it as best as you can. You will , presumably be anxious if you don’t do the things that you have planned to. I would be horrified if my mother made her life more difficult because of me.

I expect your daughters would be horrified to hear you are contemplating giving them anything, you are selling your garden to repair your house, end of!

They will get the benefit of the increased value of the house in the fullness of time.
Go ahead and have what you want.

A gift is just that.
Make your home comfortable first, and see what's left.
Then have a treat for yourself, because a new roof isn't isn't one.
Then give what's left.

The work you are doing is obviously much needed maintenance, not buying luxuries. It's not mean at all to get it all done and then give your daughters a small gift.
I'm moving and hoped to have a lump sum so I could give my sons a decent amount each but I've had to drop my price so won't have a big lump sum. I think now we all do a lot for our families and we don't have to give them money. They will get it when we die.

You live frugally, the money is spoken for. So you cannot give them anything. Are they expecting something?

After the work is finished and if you have anything left over, I would put it in an account because house maintenance never stops does it?

I agree with annsixty. I also think that you need a treat.

I agree with Charleygirl5 keep whatever money if any is left and put it away for future repairs, you never know what's round the corner. They'll inherit soon enough.

Children of whatever age need to learn that money does not grow on trees. You are raising the money by selling something you have...its not a lottery win. You have expenses and bills that you have budgeted for. If there is something left and you want to gift them something that's lovely....but they should not expect more. Dolling out all your money will not do anyone any good in the long run.

I understand the desire to help and the warm feeling that comes from a gift to family watermeadow but as others have said please think about yourself too. Why not wait until all the work is done and paid for and then reassess. I’m sure any gift would be appreciated and your children wouldn’t want you to struggle. Wait and see is perhaps the way to go.

If your daughters are expecting you to gift them a large sum of money, they don't deserve to get it.
If they don't expect anything and will be happy with any gift you choose to make, then give them what you can afford after the work is done.
But remember you may need money yourself, in the future.

Not sure if I'd be wanting to sell off the garden to fund the house maintenance unless the garden is HUGE and would not be missed or hinder any future sale of the house as a house with no garden is difficult to sell but it's not my decision and not my house . Is it a very large house?
As for giving the daughters a gift of money don't feel as you should do this . It will all come to them in good time and any maintenance should be looked on as an investment. It's more difficult to sell a house in disrepair than in good repair and I'm sure they will understand this.

You will be significantly damaging the value of the house by selling its garden but I guess you have no other sources of income to make improvements.

Could you suggest to your daughters that they club together to pay for essential repairs on the basis that you keep the garden intact and thereby maintain the value of what will eventually be their inheritance?

You first and your needs, don’t worry about leaving money when u die, it’s this life that counts. If u do it’s a bonus if u don’t its too bad.

Firstly, I would definitely get the advice of an Estate Agent first to make sure that the garden you are left with fits the size of your house - otherwise this could seriously affect your chances of a sale later on (even if you're not around - it will affect your family). One of our neighbours did this and the size of the garden they were left with was just too small for the size of the family house - they put it on the market 3 x and didn't sell it. (As far as I know, they're still there). So PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT. Secondly, I agree with everyone-else that you need to hang onto all of it - these repairs and refurbishments inevitably cost more than you think they're going to (things crop up as jobs are done - that's why it's wise to have a "contingency" fund of at least 10%). And don't forget - you're doing this for your daughters. I presume you're planning to leave the house to them, so don't feel bad about not giving them the money now - you're investing it for their future. (BTW In your place, I would seriously consider moving to a smaller place - releasing the capital that way and avoiding all that work and disruption).

Good grief! I should think not. The very thought...
IMO they're jolly lucky to get anything at all. You do more than many mums do and, if they are expecting to benefit from you selling some of your garden, then I have to wonder what is their mindset. I hope that you shrug off any doubts about scrimping on the jobs in order to give your daughters money to fritter away.
YOU and your home come first, now they are adults. I bet they wouldn't put off necessary work on their homes in order to give you a couple of grand.

It's not as if it's a lottery win - you're selling something you already owned and your daughters didn't expect you to share your garden so why would they expect you to share the proceeds of it. Also, you're putting the value of the sold garden back into increasing the value of your house, which presumably you're leaving to them in your will anyway, so they're still going to get it.

Get your repairs done - I think your daughter's would agree that you need to be comfortable in your own home! Have you promised them some of the money? If not then I would put any surplus into a savings account, you don't know if you might need a bit of reserve money at some stage.

Unless your family have lived in the house for generations I would definitely downsize, all this repair work is going to be so much hassle. If you sell off the land will it be for someone to build on, that will change your surroundings anyway. I agree with you keeping any money leftover if you do go ahead with sale and repairs.

Yes others are right,because what if house needs any work in the future?- we often have harsh winters,with gales&floods,etc,and should anything happen,or you need a new boiler or radiators etc,you need the money there ready- or your own future,god forbid,but a lot of older people have to go to sheltered housing or even care homes(not that id wish it for anyone,but you see what i mean)and they need money to fund that too,these days.im sure if you dont need it for anything else then maybe you can gift them something later,if they need it for an emergancy for repairs or some such?and in meantime you can be earning a little interest on it maybe,which will help you all in the long run?or put it in a pension pot?

Agree with everything CarlyD7 said above. Would add that unless you are selling your land to a neighbour as an allotment or extra garden space and plan to sell to a developer; you may be subjecting yourself to months/years of noisy building work on what used to be your garden. Also end up overlooked. I agree it could be worth considering downsizing to a more maintenance free property. At the very least don't dish out any money to family until the essential work is complete. There is almost always something they uncover when they begin work that pushes the costs up.

I agree with everyone else - wait until you've done the work - these things often turn out to be over budget so may be more than you've earmarked. If there's any left when it's all finished and you still want to gift your daughters then give them a small sum - just make sure you have some treats from the income too.

Yes as annsixty said, your home will increase in value through the improvements you are planning and hopefully that will benefit your daughters in the long term. I’m sure they would want you to hold on to any money you have left afterwards and I’m sure they appreciate everything you do for them which you can’t put a value on.

I think they are lucky that you are going to be giving them any money from this. This is not a windfall you have received but selling off your garden ( which as a keen gardener myself would grieve me to do so) . Think about all of these large jobs that you can at last have done to make your life as comfortable as possible. Your daughters' will probably be happy just to know that at last you can have your home as you want it, and not struggle now to do it. You could have a few family treats out together once it's all done, without giving them all a lot of money.