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

[MaskAndMartini]

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.

Spending money while not getting anything in return for it…?

I’ve heard too many times that these raffles ‘don’t raise the required funds’ and they pull the plug on giving the house away.

Gambling isn’t a good thing. Participating in something like this could easily turn into an addiction where people buy tickets that they can’t really afford.

It’s just like any other form of lottery. Low chance of winning, a pipe dream for all but one entrant. And the rules around it are complicated, because it’s gambling. There needs to be a charitable beneficiary, or a license from the Gambling Commission, neither of which most sellers who aren’t charities will want to be bothered with.

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.

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's a terrible idea! It encourages people to gamble who are least able to afford to do so. On the surface, it looks like you could win a house by spending £10 or so, which is why desperate people can be tempted. In reality, you're more likely to lose hundreds or thousands in return for nothing.

This has been a thing for decades. Omaze is just another version of it.

Just think about how many tickets would have to be sold to get the value of the house. Different for Omaze with a massive marketing budget.

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

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.

This ^

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.

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

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

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.

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

I’m unsure it will solve the housing crisis

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.

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

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.

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.

Just what poor people need, to gamble more.

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

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).

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