Underground house sale is legal say couple
A Cheltenham couple who are raffling their £1million underground home say they have breached no gambling rules.
The Gambling Commission warned last week that offering up a property as a prize in a competition could be deemed illegal.
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raffle: Tim Bawtree and Zoe Bawtree in their eco house
It says such raffles blur the lines between a competition, which requires an element of skill or knowledge, and a lottery, which is the preserve of good causes.
Already, the sellers of a £1m fantasy home in Devon have had to delay the draw of the winning ticket this month.
But Tim and Zoe Bawtree, whose dream project was featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs, say they have strictly followed the letter of the law.
Nearly 9,000 people have entered the competition to win the house at Oxford Walk by buying a £25 ticket and correctly naming the winning horse at last year's Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Tim, 37, said: "Since day one of this project we have been in regular contact with the Gambling Commission and Paypal (online payment ) to ensure everything is in order.
"The rules in place are good news for everyone because they will prevent people from abusing the system."
Tom Kavanagh, the Commission's deputy chief executive, said: "Lotteries are the preserve of good causes and cannot be operated for private gain.
"Prize competitions are free of statutory control under the Act and can be run for profit but homeowners considering such schemes as an alternative to selling their house risk committing a criminal offence if they cross the boundary and stray into offering an illegal lottery."
The couple built the underground -eco-home in the back garden of their Regency home and planned to move in.
But six months later they decided they wanted a new challenge – and in a bid to beat the property price slump put the house up as the prize in a giant internet raffle.
Tim added: "When we started this we had no idea how it would go. But six weeks on we are doing really well.
"We are over a fifth of the way towards our target and have already raised £22,000 for a cancer charity."
*For more Cheltenham news, click here.
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by 4real, london
Thursday, January 22 2009, 6:26AM
“section 14c of the gambling act means a houseowner is outside the legal frameowrk of the act.has long as they adhere to the skills test. the gc is only a regualate body. it role is to monitor. technically the couple cd purise litigation against gc. only an a preciding court can determine and techical define a competition. precendents have been set within gaming law. the couple are within this legal remit. gc cannot prevent the couple from continuing the new competition. no law expert. a law student.”
by sam, chelt
Sunday, December 21 2008, 12:27PM
“The Bawtrees have now stopped the competeion and are now running a spot the frisbee competition in it's place... I kid you not.
You couldn't make this stuff up.
Totally crazy.”
by sam, chelt
Saturday, December 13 2008, 3:31PM
“Thanks for thinking I am so powerful Crystelle...maybe it was The Echo doing their job and editing out abusive personal comments!!!”
by crystelle, london
Saturday, December 13 2008, 11:40AM
“sam also gets peoples comments removed from the blog if he doesn't like them!”
by sam, chelt
Thursday, November 20 2008, 11:58AM
“Mary,
Thanks for replying to my post.
The Bawtrees are profiting from an lottery, The Gambling Commission guidelines state that Lotteries are the preserve of good causes and cannot be run for profit. The Bawtrees solicitor has been told this by the Gmabling commission and they have also been warned about the consequences of carrying on. If you do a little research into this subject you will find this lottery and another one in Devon widely discussed in Financial forums on the internet.
These house lotteries are now saying that the Gambling Commission have changed the law AFTER giving them advice. Unfortunately this is wrong, the Gambling Commission cannot change laws, that is the preserve of the Government.
To your last comment "they deserve better than this"... Do they??
They built a contreversial house in an area of beautiful architecture, they had 90 objections to the plans. They appeared on Grand designs and stated what a wonderful "Eco" house it is, they borrowed a huge ammount of money and now can't pay it back......
Instead of asking a realisitic price for the house to get themselves out of financial trouble, they ask £845,000, a ridiculous amount for this house. They then can't sell it so instead of dropping the price, they decide they would like more publicity and throw themselves into the limelight, YET AGAIN.
If The Bawtrees are willing to go on reality TV and then court even more publicity, then they must also expect a little more scrutiny...people in glass houses and all that.
Go to their website, please read the Terms and Conditions. you might be suprised how much of the prize money they are keeping for themselves AS WELL AS THE COST OF THE HOUSE.
I mean no malice, but a wolf in sheeps clothing is never a nice thing.”