A COUPLE are selling their £600k home in a raffle – with tickets costing just TWO pounds.
Aily Chalmers, 32, and her husband, Nathan, 35, say they were forced into the unusual decision because of the “disastrous” housing market.
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They initially put their four-bed detached home near Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, on the market, but were instantly put off.
The couple were told by their estate agent that they would have to cut the price, with a potential 18-month wait to make a sale.
Instead, they are selling 450,000 raffle tickets, with the winner set to receive the house free from stamp duty and fees.
Speaking on their “mad” venture, website designer Aily said: “We never thought we’d be doing something like this.
“But we want to move closer to family and just thought, ‘go for it.’
“All you can do is try in these situations and the house is basically just going to be given away.
“All stamp duty and other fees will be paid, and the winner won’t have to pay anything other than £2 for the ticket.
“The market is awful at the moment, and we’re looking to move ASAP.
“It sounds mad, but it’s a win-win for us and someone who gets to live in a four-bed house for £2.”
The home has three bathrooms, a study, a snug and an open-plan dining room-lounge.
Aily and Nathan moved into the then-new build seven years ago.
But when the pair’s fourth child was born, they decided they wanted to move closer to family in Hampshire for support.
The mum-of-four continued: “Nathan and I have been discussing moving out since last year.
“We looked into selling the house the traditional way.
“Our house is perfect at the moment and our budget is the same.
“The only downside of being here is that we have to drive miles and miles if we want to see our family.
“It sounds mad, but we’re really hoping we can pull it off.
“We had lots of Zoom calls with the company hosting the raffle, to iron out the legalities of it all and now the competition is live.”
The pair have already sold one per cent of tickets in a matter of days, raising £6,000.
Both her and Nathan are hoping to raise an extra £20,000 in spending money to cover additional costs.
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It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is said to be considering a new tax on the sale of houses over £500,000.
But critics say the measures could weaken the property market by discouraging homeowners from downsizing and selling.
The proposed legislation would be part of a wider overhaul to stamp duty and council tax.
Slamming the proposed changes, Aily accused the Government of “punishing people who own property”.
She added: “I feel like it’s the whole property market at the moment.
“The government putting in all this new legislation just to get more money off people and sort of punishing people who own property.
“We couldn’t afford to keep this home mortgage when our mortgage rate doubled a couple of years ago.
“It’s terrible. I don’t know how some people are surviving. A lot more people are wanting to just rent.”
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