We can’t sell enough tickets to raffle our homes, admit owners

HOMEOWNERS who raffle their properties instead of selling through an estate agent are failing to make enough cash from ticket sales to cover the value.

Raffles have become popular among desperate sellers who can’t get the price they want through a traditional sale.

But many homeowners have struggled to run a profitable draw within gambling rules. These state you can’t sell tickets for a lottery or raffle based purely on chance unless it’s for a good cause and in most cases this requires a special licence.

To keep within the law, homeowners must also offer a free entry route or include a test of skill or knowledge that prevents a significant number of people from entering. Failing to do so could mean a fine or even prison.

Money Mail reported in January that Helen and Gary Weller, both 61, were running a £25-a-ticket spot-the-ball competition to win their £3.5 million five-bedroom home in Berkshire. But the couple failed to sell enough tickets and are now giving away a cash prize. Howard Rose who ran a competition to win a two-bedroom home in Shildon, County Durham, gave away a £7,000 cash prize in December, instead of the £43,000 property, after failing to sell his target of 10,000 £5 tickets.