THIS £500k London flat could be yours for just £10 – but there’s an unusual catch.
Chloe Alcock, 37, can’t afford to remortgage her home due to the cost of living crisis, but has found an inventive way to sell it off.
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The special educational needs teacher, from Oxford, is raffling her flat off, with ticket bundles starting at just a tenner.
Chloe moved out of the capital during the pandemic to avoid the constant isolation periods that resulted from her teaching work.
However, when planning to move back, she realised that spiralling inflation and rising interest rates meant she wouldn’t be able to make ends meet after remortgaging.
She told The Sun Online: “I was on the journey to move back into my flat and went through the numbers.
“I realised I literally cannot afford, on my salary, to live by myself in London.”
She added that she would have to get by on about £20 a week after bills if she moved back into the property and swallowed higher mortgage costs.
She explained that with the cost of travel for her to get to work, that would be just about impossible.
Chloe continued: “It’s a terrible situation to be in as a teacher.
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“We don’t get paid enough and work extremely hard.
“We’ve seen nurses having to use food banks, I wouldn’t be surprised if teachers were too soon.”
Former insurance worker Chloe qualified as a teacher in 2018 and says she earns around £30,000 a year now.
Fortunately an old university pal, Benno Spencer, runs rafflehouse.com, the company through which she is raffling the property.
The flat went up for raffle in May and Benno told The Sun they are hoping to close the competition on November 30.
He added that they were close to the £750,000 worth of tickets that they had set as a target for sales, which will allow them to pay Chloe what the flat is worth, recoup their costs and make a charitable donation.
Youth homeslessness charity Centrepoint will receive 2.5% of the revenue from each ticket bundle sale, which Chloe said was a “huge part” of her decision to sell through rafflehouse.
Chloe bought in 2015 for £340,000 and the raffle company currently value it at £500,000.
It is currently being rented out until it is sold.
It comes as the cost of living crisis is leaving families struggling with soaring bills.
Household energy bills have nearly doubled from last year, and are set to rise again as the cap under the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee goes up in April.
Meanwhile, soaring inflation has hit hard-up Brits in the pocket and tipped the economy into recession.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out his Autumn Statement yesterday, including direct cost of living support payments to pensioners and Universal Credit recipients.
There was also a boost for first-time buyers as the cut in stamp duty was extended to 2025, while the National Living wage was raised to £10.42 per hour.
What are the home raffle catches to watch out for?
MANY of the people who choose to raffle off their home may have had difficulties selling it on the open market so it’s important to look into the details of the property on offer.
If your questions about the property on offer aren’t answered by the competition’s website you should contact the organiser to find out more.
Check whether the property is freehold or leasehold. If leasehold, check how long is left on the lease and how much it might cost to renew.
Find out whether there is a service charge, ground rent or other ongoing expenses.
Some of the most impressive properties like castles and manor houses can have huge running costs that you might not be able to afford.
Have a look at the selling price of other homes nearby on websites like Zoopla and Rightmove to make sure that the valuation promoted in the competition is realistic.
Find out whether your legal fees will be covered as part of the prize.
You shouldn’t be required to pay stamp duty if you win as the purchase price of the property is effectively just the cost of an entry ticket or nothing if you used the free route.
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