'Curse' of Omaze as running costs see most raffle winners sell up within a year

11 December 2023 , 17:32

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Foundry worker Glen Elmy, 54, spent just three nights in the clifftop mansion he won which boasted five double bedrooms, six bathrooms and an infinity pool

People who won dream houses in the Omaze raffle have been forced to sell up as the ‘curse’ of winning sees them saddled with massive running costs.

The prize sees lucky winners bagging a massive mansion along with £100,000 to run the property, but the cash is barely enough to cover the annual running cost of the luxury properties, an expert has claimed. Costs like electricity, staffing, security and maintenance can quickly reach eye-watering levels, causing many winners to quickly sell the beautiful homes.

Since Omaze started its ‘win:win’ property draw in 2020, which raises cash for charities, 14 stunning luxury houses have been won - but back in August it was reported that only three were still lived in by the people who had won them. One had been put on AirBnb, and the rest had been put up for sale. This is due to the sky-high costs of running a luxury property, according to David Adams, head of David Adams Luxury Property.

June Smith paid just a signle visit to this dream home overlooking Cornwall's Fowey Estuary before she put it on the market (Mark Field Photography)

“If you are used to living in a normal home where you pay a couple of hundred pounds a month in electricity, maybe a few thousand a year in council tax, it comes as a huge shock when they receive the first bill for £20,000 or £30,000” Mr Adams said. “It is completely unsustainable and at that point a lot of people will decide it's not for them.” Costs like underfloor heating in winter and air conditioning in summer, monitored security, and complex electrical systems that require IT professionals to service are just some of the costs facing the owners of these mansions, he told the Mail.

Retired widower June Smith, 74, put her stunning waterside home in Fowey, Cornwall, on the market for £4.5m after just one visit to the house. Another beautiful mansion in Cornwall was on the market just eight weeks after it was won by Mr Uttam Parmar, 58, from Leicestershire and his family. “It is a fantastic house in a beautiful Cornish location but the price of it comes with a price to keep it and we can't afford to,” he said.

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Uttam Parmar with wife Raki and son Aaron in front of the stunning £3million home they sold just eight weeks after winning it (Omaze / SWNS)

A beautiful clifftop property in Kingstown, near Deal in Kent, was back on the market within months of being scooped as a prize by a West Midlands couple – Jade and her partner last year. The house, which came with £50,000 prize money, was put back on the market for £2.5million. In October 2021, foundry worker Glen Elmy, from Walsall, spent just three days in the luxurious James Bond-style five-bed cliff-top mansion worth £3million he’d won. He handed the keys to Stealth House back to Omaze, reportedly demanding a cash payout equal to the property's £3million price tag, after learning that the house was threatened by coastal erosion. Omaze reportedly agreed to his terms.

Marilyn Pratt, 70, sold the £2.9million Fulham house she’d won in April 2021 in order to help her two daughters and grandchildren financially. The sale, just eight months after she won it, saw the property go for £100,000 less than its value when she won it. Marilyn and husband David chose to stay in the two-bedroom house they had shared in for 40 years in south-east London.

Becca Pott and her husband Ben are one of only three winners to still be living in their prize house, a five-bedroom house in Ascot worth £3,500,000 (Omaze / SWNS)

An Omaze spokesman said: “All Omaze Grand Prize winners receive £100,000 in cash to help them settle in and maintain their new property. Estimated costs for each house are available for entrants to view on the Omaze website. Winners can decide to either live in the house, rent it out for a supplementary income, or sell it to become a cash multi-millionaire.

“They are free to put the house on the market and bank the cash as soon as they get the keys, it's totally up to the winner what they want to do with their life-changing prize. Omaze is delighted to have created 20 millionaires and also raised £25million for good causes since launching in the UK.”

Joe Smith