The First Successful House Raffle?

We have all dreamed of winning a lottery, have probably all bought a scratch card at some point. Primarily for the main reason that the potential reward far outweighs the loss of a few pound should we not win. And who doesn't want to make their lives easier?

From having the possibility of financial security, splashing out on a holiday, through to buying the house we always wanted.

So there is really no wonder why, most of us when presented with an opportunity to potentially win a house for the price of a £25 ticket wouldn't say no. Unless we thought it was a scam.

The First UK House Raffle

The first recorded house raffle in the UK took place back in 2008. The organisers, Brian and Wendy Wilshaw, decided they wanted to downsize from their current property including holiday homes that brought in a revenue of £25,000. However, they found themselves caught up in the middle of the credit crunch. With no interested buyers and no desire to continue to run the property themselves, they decided to organise a raffle.

Objective

The objective was to raise money by selling enough tickers to re-coup the cost of the house around 46,000. Then from those 46,000 tickets pick one number at random to decide on the lucky individual who would win the property.

Outcome

People from all over the world bought tickets, some even emailing the Wilshaw's to ask about measurements for curtains! After the draw was drawn at a local law firm, Christoph Jaeger from the Germany was called with the good news that his £25 ticket had won him the Oldborough Mansion estate at Morchard Bishop, near Crediton.

"You could say he was a little bit stunned when we contacted him today," Mrs Wilshaw said.

What Christoph Won

• 5 Bedroom house

• 2 Acre fishing lake

• 9.2 acres of woodland complete

• 4 x2 bed holiday cottages generating a revenue per annum of £25,000

So what's happened since then?

Well it's got bigger, better and a lot more complex. Prizes have become more varied, failed raffles a little more frequent but the opportunity remains, just make sure you know you are investing your hard earned cash playing the right competitions