Is Raffle House Legit? The Truth About This UK House Raffle

You've probably seen those flashy ads promising you the chance to win a million-pound house for the price of a pint, and you're wondering - is Raffle House legit or just another too-good-to-be-true scheme?

The idea of winning your dream home for a few quid sounds brilliant, but your gut's telling you to dig a bit deeper before handing over your hard-earned cash. Smart thinking. Let's have a proper look at what's really going on with Raffle House and whether it's worth your money.

Is Raffle House UK Legit? What You Need to Know

Here's the thing - Raffle House is a legitimate registered UK company. You can find their company details on Companies House, and they're even registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which shows they're trying to play by the rules. BUT being legitimate doesn't automatically mean it's a good deal for you. The reality about house raffles in the UK is pretty sobering. Since 2017, only one house raffle has actually given away the property it advertised. One. Out of dozens that have run. That should tell you something right there.

The Good: Why People Say Raffle House is Legitimate

Let's be fair and look at the positives first. Raffle House has a 4-star rating on Trustpilot with over 5,800 customer reviews, which isn't too shabby. Real people are leaving real reviews, and many of them seem genuinely happy with their experience.

The good news includes:

They do pay out prizes - Raffle House doesn't just take your money and disappear. Winners do get paid, even if it's not always what was originally advertised.

Easy ordering process - Most reviews mention how straightforward it is to enter their competitions. No jumping through hoops or dodgy payment systems.

Charitable donations. Part of your entry fee does go to charity, so you could say you're doing it for a good cause and making the world a better place.

Transparent terms and conditions. You can read exactly what you're signing up for. But let's be honest, when was the last time we've all done that?

The fact that they're still operating years after their ASA troubles suggests they've got some staying power and aren't planning to do a runner with everyone's money.

The Not-So-Good: Raffle House Concerns

Now, here are some red flags from our research that you need to know about before you get too excited about winning that dream home.

The not-so-good news includes:

The odds are absolutely tiny - We're talking lottery-level chances here, but with much less regulation and oversight.

Cash alternatives are often disappointing - When winners don't get the actual house (which is almost always), the cash alternative can be significantly less than the property's value. Remember, the company keeps 25% of cash prizes plus fees and costs.

Terms heavily favour the house - Just like a casino, the rules are written to benefit Raffle House, not you. They've got wiggle room built into every scenario.

Which? consumer group has raised serious concerns about house raffles in general, calling for better regulation to protect consumers.

Cash over luxury house - The biggest red flag? Most house raffles simply don't give away houses. They give away cash instead, and often much less cash than you'd expect.

ASA vs Raffle House - Misleading Consumers

Back in 2019, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against Raffle House after receiving complaints about misleading advertising. The main issues were:

The winner got cash instead of property. The first competition winner received £173,013 in cash rather than the £650,000 property that was advertised.

Unclear terms about minimum ticket sales. They didn't properly explain what would happen if they didn't sell enough tickets to cover the prize.

"Reasonable equivalent" wasn't so reasonable. The ASA found that the cash prize wasn't actually equivalent to the advertised property value.

Here's the kicker, the ASA can only issue warnings. They can't fine companies or shut them down. Since then, the ASA now refers property raffle complaints to National Trading Standards, suggesting they recognised they needed bigger guns to deal with these issues.

Do People Actually Win Houses with Raffle House?

Short answer: rarely. Very rarely.

Long answer: As one report noted, Raffle House made £200,000 and kept the property that should have been won, highlighting exactly how these competitions often play out.

The uncomfortable truth is that house raffles are designed more like a business model than a genuine competition. The company makes money regardless of whether they give away the house or not. In fact, they often make more money by keeping the property and paying out a smaller cash prize.

Think about it logically - if a company could regularly give away £500,000+ houses while only charging a few pounds per ticket, how would they stay in business? The maths just doesn't add up unless most of the time they're not actually giving away houses.

When people do win, it's usually a cash alternative that's been calculated to ensure the company still makes a healthy profit.

Final Verdict: Is Raffle House Worth It?

So, is Raffle House legit? Yes, in the sense that they're a real company that does pay out prizes.

Is it worth your money? That depends on what you're expecting.

If you're looking for a genuine chance to win a house, you'll probably be disappointed. The odds are terrible, and you'll most likely get a cash prize that's significantly less than the advertised property value.

What We've Learnt at Lucky Senpai

From this research, we've learnt a few lessons from this bad example on how to run a raffle business. If you don't know, Lucky Senpai is looking to launch a prize competition platform soon. Don't worry, we're not launching another house raffle site. Our prizes are focused on collectables, such as high-quality comic and anime figures, Perfect Grade Gundam kits, rare Pokémon booster packs, and other limited edition items.

Here are the key lessons we've learn from researching this:

• Keep our odds fair and realistic - People deserve a chance to win with fair odds and a limited number of tickets.

• Give people what they want - If we've advertised for that prize, then we'll deliver that prize.

• Be clear about the cash alternative - If there's a cash alternative, make that clear and give the option to choose.

• Do it for the people too - Every business's goal is to make money, but we can also make people's dreams come true at the same time! Opt for win-win(-win).

Going forward, we will keep these learnings as part of our core principles and positively disrupt the prize competition industry.

Keep an eye out for us! Follow us on Instagram & TikTok for our latest news and entertaining content.