jasonclery
Contributor
Looking forward to the winner saying “it’s great to have won a prize”
Win A Dream Home In Kent Review Closed
Raffle House are offering entrants the chance to win ua dream home in Kent worth £2.7million or a cash alternaive. In addition they have a BMW 520i worth £55,000 up for grabs too. Tickets for this one cost from £10 and subscriptions are now an option. Every time you enter, you get to support a cause close to your heart.
After a series of draws where just a cash prize was offered to the winner, Raffle House have decided to feature an actual property for their latest giveaway. The featured property is described as a "magnificent family home in Kent, worth £2.7m that includes a whopping £200,000 worth of furnishings". A quick Google search shows that the house has recently been for sale on Rightmove with a guide price of £2.3million. The estate agent explains that "Meadow View is a beautiful, luxury, detached family home, built from new by the current owners in 2019". They also give the location as in the Kent town of Cranbrook which is 30 minutes from Tonbridge and around a couple of hours travel to London. To keep all options open though Raffle House are also offering the winner the value of the house as an alternative prize.
Launched: 1st July 2024 End Date: 31st August 2024
Location: UK TN17
House Value: £2,700,000 (6 Bedrooms)
Extras: £2.7million Cash Alternative
Ticket Price: £10.00 (Free Entry Available)
Cars: BMW 520i Early Bird
Tickets Sold: Unknown
Cash Alternative: 70% cash sum (after deductions)
Platform: Raffle House
After a series of draws where just a cash prize was offered to the winner, Raffle House have decided to feature an actual property for their latest giveaway. The featured property is described as a "magnificent family home in Kent, worth £2.7m that includes a whopping £200,000 worth of furnishings". A quick Google search shows that the house has recently been for sale on Rightmove with a guide price of £2.3million. The estate agent explains that "Meadow View is a beautiful, luxury, detached family home, built from new by the current owners in 2019". They also give the location as in the Kent town of Cranbrook which is 30 minutes from Tonbridge and around a couple of hours travel to London. To keep all options open though Raffle House are also offering the winner the value of the house as an alternative prize.
About The Property
The six bedroom property comprises of two floors with five bedrooms, all with en-suite, on the top floor. The main bedroom also has it's own dressing room. Downstairs you'll find the sixth bedroom alongside a large kitchen/diner, snug area, lounge, games room and office area. A two floor outbuilding houses a double garage, pool house and storage. This is all set in 1.3 acres of magnificent grounds which also include your own swimming pool. The property comes fully furnished. Raffle House will cover all the required legal costs including stamp duty. According to Rightmove's listing the property has "the remainder of a 10 year new build warranty in place" and "advanced heating and electrical systems ensuring energy efficiency in a low-cost eco home". Raffle House have a few images of the property on site but you'll find more on Rightmove.
How To Enter & Discounts
To enter the prize draw you simply need to select the number of tickets that you wish to purchase. It now operates in a very similar way to Omaze. For example for £10 you can get 15 tickets, £25 lands you 50 tickets and there's a massive 500 tickets should you wish to part with £100. The 2000 tickets for £300 looks to be back for this round - not good in terms of responsible play. However there is a free postal entry option. Note that you must be registered with Raffle House to use this option. For this prize draw Raffle House are supporting multiple charities and entrants are able to choose from one of over 25 charities to donate to. Like Omaze, Raffle House have also added a subscription option. This apparently gives you three times more tickets than a one-off purchase and exclusive prize draws.
Ticket Target
As with Omaze there isn't a ticket target indicated on the site. All we know is that there's a closing date set for the 31st August 2024. This draw also does have an early bird draw. Enter before the 31st July 2024 and you have the chance to win a BMW 520i or £55,000 cash. According to the terms if by the closing date "the actual number of Entries received is less than the required number of Entries, the Competition will close and on the Draw Date there will be a Draw, at the sole discretion of the Promoter, by reference to the proceeds received from the Entries to award to the Winner the Cash Prize". This figure is determined as "70% of the total value of the total Entry Fees received up to the Closing Date net the Promoter’s operational costs; less (2) the amount of the Charity Donation".Our Verdict
It's interesting to see Raffle House switch back to featuring a property - we think for a win a house competition it's a good move, especially as the property is pretty decent. Of course RH are keeping all bases open by also offering cash to the winner. This does make us wonder what happens to the property if the winner does decide on the cash? Of course there's also the issue with respect to whether enough tickets sell. Whilst Omaze always guarantees that the featured prize will be won Raffle House doesn't and that's something to consider. What would be great to see is a RH winner outside this £2.7million property as that would give us a genuine alternative to Omaze. Will you be entering? Is a featured property better than just a flat cash prize? Let us know in the comments below.
Win A Dream Home In Kent Discussion
We're keen to hear your views on Win A Dream Home In Kent. Join in the conversation below and share your experiences. As of 25/7/24 you'll need to be registered with Loquax AND have made an initial hello post here to comment on new reviews. Older reviews will still have the FB system. Please note that comments may be moderated and may not always reflect the views of Loquax Ltd.
Can You Win Your Dream Home? — The Dial
Property prize draws claim to offer a way out of the UK’s housing crisis. They’re not what they seem.
www.thedial.world
"The following year Emmaus UK, a charity working to end homelessness, refused to accept donations from Raffle House, a prize draw provider, based on its “commitment to ethical fundraising.” “As a charity we are committed to ensuring we feel comfortable with the origins of any money we receive, and on this occasion felt it necessary to decline the donation"
forest_green
Forum User
Big problem I have with Raffle House is its lack of transparency over the actual prize amounts awarded when cash prizes are given. 'Fudging the outcomes' just suggests to me that the competition didn't generate enough revenue to award either the house or full cash alternative in lieu of the house, should the winner decide. Rather, it tells me it didn't generate enough to reach the cash alternative advertised, and gave a the winner considerably less. Whether that amount would still be enough for many to buy a home with, depending on where they need to buy, is highly questionable without transparency from Raffle House. One thing is for sure, I cannot afford to turn my life upside down for the sake of a mere £10,000, for example (even £100,000 wouldn't be worth it for me). Consequently, after my initial entries years ago, I haven't entered again since.
If Raffle House ever read these comments, please sort your competition out. It's quite likely you're not as successful as you could otherwise be because of this very issue. I'd like to be able to enter, I desperately need a home, but I can't take the risk given the way you structure your competition/present information. Fully disclose the prize amounts awarded, don't leave people guessing. That way, people truly know what they are paying for!
If Raffle House ever read these comments, please sort your competition out. It's quite likely you're not as successful as you could otherwise be because of this very issue. I'd like to be able to enter, I desperately need a home, but I can't take the risk given the way you structure your competition/present information. Fully disclose the prize amounts awarded, don't leave people guessing. That way, people truly know what they are paying for!
jonnybournemouth
Forum User
I will eat vegan food for a week if anyone wins with Raffle house!
I don't think I follow you: 1- you say that you desperately need a home; 2 - even £100k isn't enough to "turn your life upside down". There seems to be quite a disconnect there, and I'm not sure what is so unacceptably tumultuous about trousering a hundred grand.....it certainly wouldn't upset me that much!
forest_green
Forum User
There's no disconnect. Different areas, different house prices for similar property types. It depends on the nuances of individual circumstances and what one needs. If you were in my shoes, you'd probably understand.
If I won £100k I wouldn't even be able to buy a static caravan where I live, but it would certainly pay the bills for a bit and let me buy nicer biscuits. £100k is still a considerable sum of money. You don't have to use it to buy a house if it's of no use to you for that.
forest_green
Forum User
Oh, how I'd love to be in the situation of winning £100k and being splurging out on biscuits, etc without a further care in the world. Not possible for me unfortunately. It's a big reason I don't enter a lot of competitions I might do otherwise.
The bigger issue with £10k or £100k payouts (if that IS what Raffle House are giving their 'grand prize winners') is a) false advertising because they are suggesting you'll end up with a house, actually a 'dream house' (tho I think benno and his lawyer had a chortle over that because the dream is you'd ever win a house, not that you'd 'win a dream house' b) a matter of odds- I'd wager £5 or £10 for a million pounds prize, but that's a *big* stake to make to only get 5 or 6 figure prizes. I think it's a bit shocking the gambling commission haven't got onto house raffles because house prizes play on people's desperation and even those who have homes are still having their emotions played on. I know they're still using a couple of loopholes that mean it doesn't legally count as gambling but tbh I think the psych factors mean they might be even 'worse'. (Don't get me wrong, I love the house raffles, I'm pleased it's become a proper industry, but I hate that the likes of Raffle House are exploiting it)
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