Dad bids to raffle off his north Derbyshire home for just £5 a ticket

The lucky winner will snap up the ‘amazing opportunity’ of owning a £170,000 recently refurbished three-bedroomed house in Bolsover completely mortgage-free.

Sree Balachandran, 37, and his wife Surya, 28, who have lived at the home on Houfton Road for five years, have been trying to sell up since June so they can move to Staveley where two-year-old daughter Malavika will attend a nursery.

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However, despite multiple viewings and plenty of interest in their home, the couple have become disillusioned with the sale process during the pandemic.

Sree, who works as a senior manager at the Post Office, said: “l saw a similar house raffle on TV and thought I would try it. I also like the idea of giving someone an opportunity to get a mortgage-free house for just a fiver.

"And it is 1 in 60,000 chance to get one compared to millions with the National Lottery.

"We will also get a better price for the house and give us that extra deposit for the new mortgage.

"Where else can you get a house for a fiver? It is an opportunity for someone's dream to come true.”

Sree is one of a growing number of people who are trying to sell their homes through raffles and ‘win a house’ schemes, where tickets are sold at a low cost and the sellers hope they can make up the sale price and pick one winner.

He said: “The house is recently decorated to an extremely high standard and is in a good neighbourhood. The only sad part for us is we will miss the neighbours who are like family. They love my daughter and she was born in this house.

“However, if we sell, we can buy a house closer to my daughter's school and are also looking for somewhere not so close to a road with such a young daughter.”

The family are also throwing in £15,000 spending money and the raffle comes to an end on Christmas Day. If all tickets are sold Sree will also donate £5,000 to Chesterfield homelessness charity, Pathways.

Click here for more information and to snap up one of the 60,000 tickets.

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