The £25 Million-Pound Home: A Raffle or a Risk?
engaging news story about a creative property sale
Welcome to our course on understanding real-world language through current events. Throughout this course, you'll:
- Develop your vocabulary related to property, business, and legal concepts
- Enhance your reading comprehension and text analysis skills
- Improve your language skills through practical examples
In this lesson, we'll examine the fascinating story of the Wilshaws' property raffle scheme. You'll learn key vocabulary, understand their motivations, and analyse the financial and legal aspects of their innovative approach to selling property during a market slump.
Brian and Wendy Wilshaw owned a five-bedroom country estate in Devon with 9.5 acres of woodland, a two-acre fishing lake, and four holiday lodges. After failing to sell their property for £950,000 during a housing market slump, they devised an alternative plan.
Their motivations were clear:
- They were getting older and found the estate difficult to maintain
- They wanted to move to a smaller property
- They were inspired by visitors who said they would buy such a place if they won the lottery
- They wanted to make their home accessible to ordinary families who couldn't afford it otherwise
Their solution? Create an online prize competition where people could win their entire estate for just £25 per ticket.
Financial Details of the Raffle
Ticket Sales
- Price per ticket: £25
- Tickets sold so far: 34,000
- Target number of tickets: 46,000
- Money raised so far: £850,000
- Target amount: £1.15 million
Property Details
- Original asking price: £950,000
- Annual running costs: £6,000
- Income from timber lodges: £25,000 in a good year
- Property includes: Main house, 9.5 acres of woodland, two-acre fishing lake, four holiday lodges
Legal Considerations
The Wilshaws' scheme raised important legal questions. In the UK, it's illegal to run a lottery for personal profit, and some viewed their competition as potentially a scam.
To avoid being classified as an illegal lottery, the Wilshaws:
- Required participants to answer a skill-based question
- Claimed their competition was legal because it wasn't purely based on chance
- Consulted lawyers who approved their approach
However, an expert on gambling law questioned this, noting that when almost everyone gets the answer right, selecting a winner becomes a game of chance—effectively an illegal lottery.
Others who attempted similar schemes faced legal consequences, with one woman paying nearly £8,000 in compensation after breaking lottery laws.
Let's review some important vocabulary from the Wilshaws' property raffle story. Tap the + to see the definition.
Fancy a £1m home for £25?
After failing to find a buyer, a Devon couple are raffling their country estate. Is it a scam, or a genuine way to heat the property slump?
Patrick Collinson and Ben Steele September 6, 2008
Is a raffle really the best way to sell a house in the middle of a housing slump? A five-bedroom house, together with 9.5 acres of woodland, a two-acre fishing lake and four separate two-bed holiday lodges —one lucky person will win all of this for just £25. The owners of the house, Brian and Wendy Wilshaw, will be winners too. Last year they were unable to sell the property at a price of £950,000. But after they started an online prize competition on a website, they've sold 34,000 tickets —that's £850,000 —and are not far from their target of 46,000 tickets
When they have sold all the tickets, Mr and Mrs Wilshaw will become the first property owners to successfully use a raffle to sell a house —and make a good profit. If they sell 46,000 tickets they will earn £1.15m —they say they will use the extra money to cover the costs of organizing the raffle. But they will still have a nice profit in a property market that is in a slump at the moment.
Wendy says: “We needed to sell. We're getting old. This place is hard work. So many of the people who have stayed here have said that if they won the national lottery, they would buy a place like this. That gave us the idea.” The Wilshaws have lived at the estate for14 years and want to move to a smaller property. “I want an ordinary family to live here, people who normally could not afford to buy this place; people who will have a chance to start a new life here,” says Wendy.
The winners will get a large house and an estate that includes a two-acre lake full of fish. It costs around £6,000 a year to run the estate, but in a good year the timber lodges provide an income of £25,000. The Wilshaws have sold tickets to people from Scandinavia, India and the US, and are sure they will sell all 46,000 tickets by the closing date of December 7.
But is it legal to sell a home this way? And how can people who buy the tickets be sure this isn't some sort of scam? Wendy angrily criticizes anyone who uses the words raffle or lottery to describe their scheme. “This isn’t a lottery. To have a chance of winning, you first have to answer a skill-based question. You can only enter the competition if you answer the question correctly.”
The question is: “What is the cost of a fishing license for2008/2009?” It takes a second to find the answer on Google. It’s illegal to run a lottery for personal profit, and while you can run competitions for profit, they must include an element of skill. The Wilshaws’ lawyers have told them the competition is legal, but Antoinette Jucker, an expert on gambling law is not so sure.
“How do you choose a winner when almost everyone gets the answer right? You take their name out of a hat. That makes it a game of chance, and therefore an illegal lottery. The intention of the Gambling Act is that the only legal lotteries are ones which operate for good causes. This competition is not doing that,” she says. But the Wilshaws say that their scheme is legal.
Several people who have tried to sell their home by raffle have been charged by the police. One woman had to pay nearly £8,000 compensation after she admitted breaking lottery laws. But the biggest problem is finding people to buy the tickets. One man set up a website to sell his £110,000 home at £5a ticket, but sold only 229 tickets, so he drew a name from the hat and the winner got £916.
The Wilshaws say they’ll do the same if they don’t sell all 46,000 tickets. “If there isn’t a winner by the end of December, then someone will get a cash prize, simple as that,” says Wendy. The prize will be the total sum they’ve collected minus 35% to cover costs. The most common question they get is how they will choose the winning ticket. “We will use random number software in front of television cameras and reporters,” says Wendy.
Hello everyone, I’m Feynman. Today I’m hoping to learn about a truly fascinating and somewhat unbelievable story I came across: a million-pound home being offered for just £25. It sounds like something out of a dream, or perhaps a scam! I’ve invited Einstein to help explain these concepts to me.
Einstein
I’m happy to be here, Feynman. I’m Einstein, and I’ve been studying an article detailing this very unusual situation. It’s about a couple in Devon who decided to raffle their country estate. This material covers their reasons, the mechanics of their scheme, and the legal questions surrounding it, and I’ll try to explain it in simple terms.
Feynman
A million-pound home for £25? That’s quite a price difference! What exactly is this property, and why are they selling it this way?
Einstein
According to the article, the property is a five-bedroom house with 9.5 acres of woodland, a two-acre fishing lake, and four separate two-bed holiday lodges. The owners, Brian and Wendy Wilshaw, couldn’t sell it for its market value of £950,000 last year due to what the article calls a ‘housing slump.’ So, they turned to an online prize competition, selling tickets for £25 each.
Feynman
A ‘housing slump’ – that sounds like a difficult time to sell. So, they’re using this raffle as a way to bypass the traditional market? And how many tickets are they hoping to sell?
Einstein
Precisely. The article explains that a housing slump means the value of properties falls, making it hard to find buyers at a good price. The Wilshaws are aiming to sell 46,000 tickets. If they achieve that, they’ll earn £1.15 million, which covers their costs and still leaves them with a good profit.
Feynman
That’s a clever strategy to make a profit in a tough market. But my immediate thought is, is this even legal? I’ve heard that lotteries for personal profit are often illegal.
Einstein
That’s a very important question, and the article delves into it. The Wilshaws insist their scheme is legal because it’s not a pure lottery. To enter, participants must first answer a ‘skill-based question.’ The question, as mentioned in the text, is: ‘What is the cost of a fishing licence for 2008/2009?’
Feynman
A skill-based question? So, it’s not just pure chance? But that question sounds like something you could easily Google. Does that really make it legal?
Einstein
You’ve hit on the core of the debate. The article notes that while it’s illegal to run a lottery for personal profit, competitions for profit are allowed if they include an element of skill. The Wilshaws’ lawyers have advised them it’s legal. However, an expert on gambling law, Antoinette Jucker, isn’t so sure, pointing out that others who tried similar schemes have faced charges.
Feynman
So, there’s a legal gray area, even if their lawyers say it’s fine. What happens if they don’t sell all 46,000 tickets? Does someone still win the house?
Einstein
The article addresses that contingency. Wendy Wilshaw states that if they don’t sell all the tickets by the end of December, they will give a cash prize instead. This prize would be the total sum collected, minus 35% to cover their costs.
Feynman
That’s a good safety net for them, but perhaps a bit disappointing for someone hoping for a house! What about the running costs of such a large estate? The winner would need to afford that, right?
Einstein
Indeed. The article mentions it costs around £20,000 a year to run the estate. However, the four timber lodges on the property provide an income of about £25,000 a year in a good year, which could help offset those costs for the winner.
Feynman
Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The Wilshaws are raffling their £1 million estate for £25 a ticket because they couldn’t sell it in a housing slump. They’re trying to make it legal by including a simple skill question, but there’s still some debate about its legality. If they sell all 46,000 tickets, they make a good profit, and if not, they offer a cash prize. The winner gets a huge property but also takes on significant running costs, though the lodges can help with that. Is that a fair summary?
Einstein
That’s an excellent summary, Feynman! You’ve captured the essence of this unique property sale, including the motivations, the legal complexities, and the financial aspects for both the sellers and a potential winner. It truly highlights how people can innovate in challenging markets.
Feynman
I think I could explain this to someone else now! It’s a creative solution to a market problem, balancing risk and reward for everyone involved, all while navigating some tricky legal waters. Thank you for explaining this so clearly, Einstein.
Einstein
You’ve grasped it perfectly, Feynman. That’s exactly what makes the Feynman technique so powerful – if you can explain a complex concept in simple terms, you truly understand it. I’m glad I could help make this fascinating story more accessible.
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