Controversial £2.875m raffle of Right To Buy house is back on

The controversial raffle of a home reportedly purchased in 2014 under the Right To Buy scheme for just £360,000 is back on - and if it succeeds, it will involve the home owner receiving £2.875m in ticket money.

Last month Estate Agent Today reported that the owner of the home at Greenwich, south east London, had set up the website Homeraffler.com, carrying details of the five bedroom property in a conservation area. 

The property was listed on Rightmove anyway, at £1.3m, but the owner was then claiming on the website that she wished to sell 750,000 tickets at £5 each. 

If all sold, the total going to the owner would be £3.75m to include the house itself plus bedroom furniture, kitchen appliances, leather sofas, a dining table and “£12,000 worth of lead crystal chandeliers.”

The raffle website states: “After buying our home in 2014 we are now struggling to pay the mortgage due to disability, and have tried but failed to sell the property through traditional routes and we would like to avoid repossession.

“After talking to many estate agents and quick buy companies, we believe it is in our best interest to take the sale of our property into our own hands, whilst offering someone else the opportunity to own and enjoy the property as their own.”

However, the EAT article highlighted the dangers of such DIY raffles infringing gambling laws and within days after intervention by Greenwich council over potential breaches of Gambling Commission rules.

Then the Daily Telegraph reported that the house had in any case been purchased in 2014 for only £360,000 under the Right To Buy legislation, by the then tenant Renu Qadri - the person who is now organising the raffle.

Now Qadri has contacted Estate Agent Today to say the raffle has been reinstated, adding “After complying with the 2005 gambling act - mistakes were made which have been rectified.”

Her website now puts the total number of tickets she hopes to sell as ‘only’ 575,000 which would mean she would receive £2.875m. The website says: “If we achieve our 575,000 paid entry target before December 27th 2017 we will donate £25,000 to Psoriasis Association and £25000 to Wateraid as our way of thanking everyone for their support!”

Qadri says the raffle income, if achieved, would cover the price of the property, those contents on sale with it, and “all fees” associated with the raffle.