THE future of house raffles is in doubt after ticket sellers and punters alike labelled the prize draws “a nightmare”.
Originally designed to help homeowners struggling to sell, the raffles gave people not yet on the property ladder the chance to win their dream home.
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Early success stories made the process sound simple.
In 2017, Dunstan Low raised almost £1million raffling his six-bedroom Lancashire manor house worth £845,000.
Low walked away with the asking price and gave the remaining £153,000 to charity after covering his legal costs.
Buoyed by his success, countless other homeowners followed suit, hoping to beat the downturn in the housing market.
But tough gaming laws and confusing small print soon scuppered all but a handful.
And ticket holders were left raging at prize draws they saw as misleading and unfair — often with good reason.
Last month, three complaints against property raffle company Raffle House were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
In January 2019, a Dorset woman who “won” a £3million mega-house received only £110,000 after the millionaire couple behind the raffle decided to keep their home and pocket £500,000.
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Two years ago, we spoke to four eager rafflers hoping to get a fair price for their homes.
But NONE of their draws panned out — and not a single set of keys was handed over.
Shamus and Angie Fitzsimons raffled Dullatur House, an 18th-century seven-bed mansion on the outskirts of Glasgow, hoping to raise £650,000.
But the pair failed to sell enough £5 tickets so they announced just before the March 2018 closing date they would offer a cash prize instead.
Complaints rolled in and then escalated when they refused to reveal their winner’s name or how much loot they’d been awarded.
The Sun was unable to reach the couple for comment but Angie Fitzsimons insisted to The Sunday Post last year the prize draw was conducted fairly.
She said: “We’ve been slagged off by a lot of people but the fact is the winners got their prizes and are happy with what they got. We regret ever holding the competition.”
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Londoner Renu Qadri wishes she had never heard about house raffles either.
When a disability left her unable to work, she tried to raffle her £1.25million five-bedroom flat in Blackheath, South East London.
Within 48 hours she had sold £250,000 of tickets — but she quickly fell foul of regulators.
The Gambling Commission spotted she had failed to offer a free entry option or set a closing date — issues which were both quickly rectified.
But a week later, PayPal froze her account and refunded all the money to people who bought tickets. They have since ruled that PayPal cannot be used for house raffles in the UK.
Renu then sold another £7,000 worth of tickets through Eventbrite but it too later refunded ticket holders and has since refused to support raffles.
The ASA quibbled over her wording about the cash-prize alternative and even the charities she hoped to donate to withdrew their backing.
Renu was left devastated. She said: “I went to the Financial Ombudsman but gave up fighting in the end.
“The problem is this is classed as gambling, even though it’s essentially a prize draw.
“There were no clear rules and regulations and I felt like I was treated like a criminal by everyone from the ASA to the Gambling Commission. It was such a nightmare that the stress started to affect my health.
“So we still live in the house now. My advice to anyone thinking of running their own house raffle? Don’t!”
‘ONE OF THE WORST EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE’
Lord Roger Hickman had a similarly taxing experience when PayPal refunded ticket holders for the raffle of his £950,000 flat in Knightsbridge, central London.
At £5 a ticket, he needed to sell at least 200,000 to cover his costs — but managed just 9,000.
He ended up awarding a winner £28,000 and donating £2,900 to homelessness charities.
Roger said: “It was hell. I’ve been harassed, chased in the street and I had to shut my Facebook page because I got so much abuse. I sold the property on the open market in the end.
“We ended up losing money but I was just glad to be rid of it. I can honestly say it’s one of the worst experiences of my life.”
But it’s not all doom and gloom for rafflers.
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Howard Rose, who ‘raffled’ a property in Shildon, County Durham, has no regrets, despite failing to sell enough tickets to give the house away.
Howard now co-owns and runs Property-lotto.com, which operates as a prize-draw competition and is neither raffle nor lottery. He gave one winner £7,000 and donated £500 to charity out of his own pocket.
He says: “I learned so much from my first test prize draw competition. Now, for a £2 stake, people have the chance to win £200,000, 75% of which they must put towards a house.
“I have a good relationship with the Gambling Commission and ASA and I’m one of the only people who’s never been closed down.
“I insist on issuing individual e-tickets for customers’ peace of mind and any profits go either to charity or into admin costs.
“In fact, at least £40,000 of each draw goes to charity. We don’t take any income from Property Lotto – and I’ve been awarded a BEM for my work in other areas.”
The ASA’s Lydia Marshall agrees that the devil is in the detail when it comes to successful draws such as Howard’s.
She said: “We’ve seen an increase in complaints about house raffles and have investigated multiple adverts. We have banned ads for changing closing dates or other terms and conditions, omitting significant conditions, withholding the advertised prize or not awarding a prize that is a reasonable equivalent.”
She advises both sellers and ticket buyers to look closely at the ASA’s guidelines at asa.org.uk to avoid disappointment.
For our case studies, the advice comes too late.
Safe as houses? Apparently not.
Reenu Qadri
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PROPERTY: Five-bedroom flat in Blackheath, South East London.
VALUE: £1.25million.
WHY RAFFLE? Disability left Renu unable to work and she could no longer afford to live there.
TICKET PRICE: £5.
WHAT HAPPENED? The raffle collapsed and all the money was refunded. Renu still lives there but hopes to sell in the future.
Lord Hickman
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PROPERTY: Two-bed luxury apartment in Knightsbridge, central London.
VALUE: £950,000.
WHY RAFFLE? Struggling to get the asking price.
TICKET PRICE: £5.
WHAT HAPPENED? Roger sold just 9,000 of 300,000 tickets.
He gave £28,000 to the winner and donated £2,900 to homelessness charities.
Despite keeping to competition rules, he was badly trolled.
Howard Rose
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PROPERTY: Two-bed terrace in Shildon, Co Durham.
VALUE: £42,950.
WHY RAFFLE? Entrepreneur Howard was launching a competitions business to win a house or a lump sum towards a property purchase.
TICKET PRICE: £5
WHAT HAPPENED? Howard failed to sell enough tickets, so awarded a £7,000 cash prize.
Later sold the house for the asking price to an investor.
Shamus Fitzsimons
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PROPERTY: 18th-century seven-bed mansion on the outskirts of Glasgow.
VALUE: £625,000.
WHY RAFFLE? Owners Shamus and Angie struggled to sell through an estate agent.
TICKET PRICE: £5.
WHAT HAPPENED? Failed to sell enough tickets, then announced they would offer a cash prize.
Never disclosed how much or who, citing winner’s privacy.
