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AIBU?

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Original poster

to think more house raffles would be a good thing for poorer people?

33 replies

MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 14:56

I read a story today in the paper about this family who are selling raffle tickets for their house. They are 2 quid each and the winner wins the house. Presumably the sellers also get at least what the house is worth.

AIBU to think this is a great idea? Especially for people who have no chance of ever getting on the housing ladder.

OP posts:
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Comeonbabylightmyfire · 11/10/2025 08:34

It preys on people living in poverty. Gambling is never the answer.

dontcomeatme · 11/10/2025 07:52

CryMyEyesViolet · 10/10/2025 22:16

Well why haven’t you bought enough scratch cards to at least win a deposit for a house?

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That's a little different don't you think?

If you buy a raffle ticket for a house, let's say you have a 1 in 100,000 chance of winning an actual property.

If you buy scratch cards, let's say you have a 1 in 4 chance of winning, sounds great, but most prizes are £1, £2, £5 etc. The odds reduce drastically if you're looking for prizes of £1000 plus. OP would need to buy 10-20 scratch cards at £1, £2 or £5 a pop. With the huge gamble she wouldn't even win her money back for the cards.

Same as the lottery odds -
45,057,474 to 1 (Lotto) 139,838,160 to 1 (EuroMillions) 15,339,390 to 1 (Set For Life) 8,060,597 to 1 (Thunderball)

Most people play the lottery and don't think about it.

At least the house raffles have a smaller pool of tickets and higher odds of winning something concrete. I can understand the appeal.

CryMyEyesViolet · 10/10/2025 22:16

MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 22:10

Well then you have no idea what it is like to never be able to afford your own home.

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Well why haven’t you bought enough scratch cards to at least win a deposit for a house?

Wakeuplittlebunnies · 10/10/2025 22:11

No it’s gambling. Also there are lots of cases where they don’t raise enough money do they end the raffle and give the prize winner a small amount. Then they keep some for themselves for “admin”.

Original poster
MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 22:10

CryMyEyesViolet · 10/10/2025 20:16

Yes, do you?

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Well then you have no idea what it is like to never be able to afford your own home.

OP posts:
CryMyEyesViolet · 10/10/2025 20:16

MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 18:58

Do you own your own house?

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Yes, do you?

Thissickbeat · 10/10/2025 19:10

Gambling is not the answer to the housing crisis. Yabu.

Original poster
MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 18:58

CryMyEyesViolet · 10/10/2025 18:05

Yes… I couldn’t afford to waste even £2 on a lottery or raffle ticket. I don’t think you’ve ever been poor if you think gambling is a good answer to poverty.

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Do you own your own house?

OP posts:
ThisAmpleDenimCrab · 10/10/2025 18:28

It as in the paper so it’s definitely a good idea

TheDenimPoet · 10/10/2025 18:28

No, because there's a very low chance they're going to win a house and, like other forms of gambling, all they're going to do is lose the money they spent on the tickets.

False hope isn't the answer.

(I will continue entering Omaze though haha).

stayathomegardener · 10/10/2025 18:12

Isn it likely that wealthier with existing houses keep winning because they can afford more tickets?

YourPeppyAmberTraybake · 10/10/2025 18:08

Just what poor people need, to gamble more.

CryMyEyesViolet · 10/10/2025 18:05

MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 17:50

@CryMyEyesViolet you’ve never been poor, have you?

Yes… I couldn’t afford to waste even £2 on a lottery or raffle ticket. I don’t think you’ve ever been poor if you think gambling is a good answer to poverty.

MargaretThursday · 10/10/2025 17:59

Hmm. Assuming the house is worth at least £200k, they'll have to sell 100k tickets to be worth it for them. Which leads me to suspect that either the deal will be withdrawn (maybe an alternative offered) or the house is unsellable for some reason.

If you don't have a lot of money you could end up with a house that is uninsurable and a money pit.

Original poster
MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 17:50

@CryMyEyesViolet you’ve never been poor, have you?

OP posts:
CryMyEyesViolet · 10/10/2025 17:38

MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 17:35

For many people, no matter how hard they work, they will NEVER be able to afford a house.

Exactly, and the proven best way out of that scenario is gambling. In addition to the house raffle tickets they should also make sure they play the lottery every week and buy at least one scratch card a week. They’ll increase their chances of winning if they also bet on the horses, play bingo and sign up to an online casino.

If they just put enough money into the gambling they’ll eventually win enough to buy a house.

ThisAmpleDenimCrab · 10/10/2025 17:37

I’m unsure it will solve the housing crisis

Original poster
MaskAndMartini · 10/10/2025 17:35

For many people, no matter how hard they work, they will NEVER be able to afford a house.

OP posts:
StinkyWizzleteets · 10/10/2025 16:23

Ah yes let’s promote gambling as a means of chasing the dream of homeownership.

Why not encourage the poor to buy euromillions lottery tickets in the hope they get rich? Because some moron will come along and bitch that they’re spending their money on frivolous luxury things and not on gruel and sackcloth clothes.

snemrose · 10/10/2025 16:20

ReplacementBusService · 10/10/2025 14:59

Bit of usually false hope? Not really. I feel like the best thing would be if it was possible to afford to buy a house by working hard.

You do realise that people can work hard and still not afford to buy a house? Minimum wage jobs need doing and are often hard graft - that doesn’t mean those workers don’t deserve a home
But yeah I think these raffle houses give false hope to people who can probably least afford the raffle tickets

FallingIntoAutumn · 10/10/2025 16:06

Seawolves · 10/10/2025 15:01

Why is the house being raffled in the first place? It's one thing being able to afford a £2 ticket but can the winners afford the running costs and the maintenance?

It was up for too much money. They tried blaming Rachel reeves for it. But ultimately, they wanted too much money.

Buxusmortus · 10/10/2025 15:20

Terrible idea.
Have you ever heard of one of these actually completing? They usually collapse through lack of sales or falling foul of gambling legislation. Why would someone want to sell their house in this way rather than in the normal way, is there something wrong with it? Obviously Omaze works because they have huge budget for publicity and the houses are worth several millions. But Joe Bloggs trying to flog 200,000 £2 tickets for his normal boring house, not going to happen.

pizzaHeart · 10/10/2025 15:20

ReplacementBusService · 10/10/2025 14:59

Bit of usually false hope? Not really. I feel like the best thing would be if it was possible to afford to buy a house by working hard.

This ^

dontcomeatme · 10/10/2025 15:14

There's loads on the site Raffal. I've used it occasionally for a bit of fun, like wow let's buy a ticket for £1.50 and see if we win this villa in Spain. Obviously I've never won 😅 but a girl can dream. I've only done it about 3 times and not in years. But I think its a great concept.

LaurieFairyCake · 10/10/2025 15:09

God no, people in poverty should have safe and secure housing. Not fucking raffles.