Mr Lucky! How Uttam bagged a dream house
DAD WINS £3 MILLION HOME IN
A LUCKY Leicestershire man has bagged himself his “own piece of paradise” – a £3 million house in Cornwall.
Uttam Parmar, who lives near Ashby with wife Raki, won the stunning property in a draw run by Omaze, a company which holds prize draws to raise money for charities.
The Cornwall home is all the more impressive as it offers panoramic views of the Camel Estuary.
Set in more than five acres, the grand prize is also an award-winner, having been crowned Best New Build in Cornwall 2020.
The home is fully furnished and has an impressive, open-plan living space with a state-of-the-art kitchen and dining room.
Its main bedroom has its own deluxe bathroom, while the other three double bedrooms have en suite shower rooms.
Due to its North Cornwall location and closeness to fine sandy beaches, the house has a dedicated surf wet room.
Uttam would have been forgiven for not believing the house would be his, after missing out on every previous Omaze draw since they began in 2020.
However, the 58-year-old said the win showed “patience really is a virtue”.
He said: “When Omaze called to tell us we’d won a prize, we were actually at the hospital.
“We were so excited that we might have won the grand prize, we called our son Aaron to see if the winning entry code matched ours.
“When he triple checked the numbers matched, we must have burst his eardrums screaming down the phone.
“I’ve always considered myself a lucky person, firstly because of my wonderful family, but I’ve also won a few bits such as a TV and coffee table, which I was pretty happy with, to be honest.
“I never dreamed I’d win anything as extravagant as this.”
Uttam and Raki, who have regularly holidayed in Cornwall, are free to either live in the house, rent it out or sell it.
If it goes on the market for rent, estimates suggest it could bring in about £15,000 a month for holiday letting during peak season. However, they are not sure what they are going to do yet.
Uttam said: “We have a large extended family, so no doubt they’ll all be asking to have their next birthday parties here.
“We’re not sure if we’ll rent, sell or live in it yet – it’s the best dilemma we’ve ever had.
“Whatever we decide, it’s a lifechanging win for the whole family.”
could see all the flames coming from the windows. It was quite a powerful fire and I was worried about it spreading.
“I’ve haven’t lived here for long and I didn’t know whether someone lived there, so I was worried there could be someone stuck inside.”
Among those in the street surveying the burned out property was the owner, Jaspal Basra.
He said: “It’s devastating to see, really, and I don’t know how it could have happened. The main tenant is down in Devon with his children and his girlfriend is overseas in Romania until September.
“My tenant called me from Devon after hearing there was a fire.”
The fire service has begun an investigation into the cause.
Watch manager Adam Carr, from Central station, said most of the fire damage had been contained to the front room.
He said: “When we arrived there was fire coming out of the downstairs window.
“We had four fire engines here tackling the fire and we’re now investigating.
“No one was inside at the time and we were alerted to the fire by neighbours.
“The front room is completely damaged by fire and then it’s mainly smoke damage to the rest of the building.”
A police spokeswoman said: “Police were called at 11.52am by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service.
“No-one was reported to be inside the property and no injuries have been reported. Police were assisting the fire service and road closures were in place in the area.
“Immediate neighbouring properties were evacuated for safety reasons.”