The end of 2018 saw a number of win a house competitions reach their closing date. Unlike the Millionaire Mansion folks who decided to keep their competition going, all those that closed have stuck to their original terms and conditions. The bad news for entrants is that no one won a property from any of the recent closures. The good news is that cash prizes should soon be on their way to lucky winners. However, one competition has fallen foul of the UK Gambling Commission and has had to shut their doors earlier than anticipated.
2115 Tickets Sold
Win Barns Farm Life, Win My House, Win A Mega Home, Win A Maida Vale Home, Win The Home That Jo Made and Win A Property all ended their win a house competitions during the last week of December. As of 3rd January 2019 none of the aforementioned competitions have named their winners.
Details regarding ticket sales are also limited so it’s difficult to predict the potential cash prizes. However, Barns Farm Life did post on Facebook during last month. They stated that they’d sold just 2115 tickets, a further 2454 were reserved (presumably awaiting payment) and 23431 tickets remained unsold. We estimate that’s £100,000 in revenue that has been brought in at £50 a ticket which should make a decent prize pool and charitable donation.
Win A Yorkshire Home Refunds
One site that won’t be having a prize pool is Win A Yorkshire Home (WAYH). Their competition has been closed and the homepage replaced with an explanation of closure. According to the owners, Robert and Avril, “The Gambling Commission has deemed the competition a potential lottery and not a legal prize competition”. They claim that The UKGC were informed of the competition in July 2018 but it has taken them several months to deem the promotion as not legal. Anyone who has purchased tickets for Win A Yorkshire Home (WAYH) are advised to visit the site and claim a refund. Money will be returned via bank transfer within 7-10 working days!
The UKGC Jump On
It’s a shame that The UKGC have jumped on WAYH but not – so far – taken Millionaire Mansion to task with respect to their closing date change. So why have WAYH been hit by The UKGC? We had a look at their competition and noted that to enter participants need to answer a multiple choice question. We’ve always wondered whether multiple choice questions are “skill” but other win a home competitions have used this mechanic. In conclusion we can either assume that WAYH have just gotten unlucky or The UKGC have started to take a harder line on these competitions. The latter may well be why more new additions to this sector are adopting spot the ball mechanics.
Win A House Competitions In 2019
The number of new competitions that are launching has slowed down considerably, although Cadvius has recently hit the market. In addition Fred Dibnah’s former home has been put “up for sale” via a competition. The simple fact that only one UK promotion has resulted in the transfer of property doesn’t seem to put new competitions from starting. However, the fate of WAYH and the controversy surrounding Millionaire Mansion may make some think twice. These competitions struggle for entries even when the entry route is a simple question or multiple choice option. So, if The UKGC clamp down and insist on a spot the ball or similar route then we expect that less people will want to enter.
Declining Interest
The only way win a house competitions will hit peak interest is if a house is actually won and on past showings that’s unlikely to occur. Even if Millionaire Mansion does conclude with a winner in November 2019 the fact that it’ll have taken them nearly two years to reach that point is not a good selling point. In other words we expect that 2019 will see the current trend of home competitions come to an end. For some that will be disappointing. But the simple fact is that for home competitions to become mainstream and alternatives to the “for sale sign” then those offering their properies via this route actually need to create house winners.