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Gina is taking a unique approach to selling her flat (Picture: theflatraffle.com) A Londoner who is raffling off her £380,000 flat for a fiver has revealed why she’s chosen to go down the unique route. Gina is giving participants the chance to win her fully furnished two-bedroom flat in Tottenham, as well as £10,000 cash. What’s more, the prize package also covers legal fees and stamp duty, meaning the lucky winner won’t have to fork out any of the typical buying expenses. Tickets for her competition are priced at just £5 each, with proceeds benefitting the local Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. Before you say it, she knows this all sounds too good to be true, but Gina is insists it’s not a scam. ‘Some people suggest it’s a scam or I can’t sell through the open market. Or maybe I’ve got cladding issues, but none of that is true,’ the 36-year-old tells Metro. @metrouk ‘Some people suggest it’s a scam or I can’t sell through the open market, but none of that is true.’ Meet Gina, a 36-year-old data analyst now going viral for raffling off her two-bed London flat for just £5. @Gina | The Flat Raffle told @Zineb | Journalist she’s doing it as she’s moving in with her boyfriend and wants to make the process fun and life-changing for someone else. So, would you spend your fiver on this? #uknews #raffle #ukhousing #londonflat #gamblingfame ♬ original sound – Metro ‘I can understand if people are sceptical though and I don’t blame them for thinking there’s got to be something wrong here, there are so many scammers out there and it does sound like an unusual thing. ‘The reality is, it’s just like any competition – a certain number of people enter and the odds to win aren’t very big, but if you do it could be a life-changing prize.’ Gina says she simply wasn’t interested in selling up in the traditional manner and having to deal with an ‘uncertain’ property market. Instead, she wanted to make the whole experience faster and more ‘fun’ so turned to social media. ‘I look at the stress of the process of dealing with estate agents and chains, speaking to lawyers and all that kind of stuff, and that just doesn’t sound interesting,’ she said. The flat has been valued at £380,000 (Picture: theflatraffle.com) She ‘took a leap’ and launched theflatraffle.com on the Raffall platform and has been sharing the journey on TikTok, where she’s garnered more than 80,000 likes so far. ‘You can spend your evenings scrolling on social media and not doing very much, but I’m participating and learning how to do my own videography and photo editing. I’ve reached out to the local community and I’m connecting with people, it’s a fun experience. ‘And at the end of the day, it’ll be a great story down the line, as it’s a unique way of doing things.’ @the.flat.raffle You wanted a flat tour… so here it is! It’s a bit of a whizz around so I’ll give some more details on anything you want later – let me know what you’re eyeing more details on in the comments! (and don’t forget to use code LETSGO for two bonus tickets until 21st September ✨) ♬ That Summer Feeling – Lynne Publishing In order for the competition to be successful, Gina needs to sell a minimum of 120,000 tickets by January 4, 2026. If the threshold is not met, the winner will instead receive a cash payment amounting to 50% of the total ticket revenue generated. In this scenario, Gina would still have possession of the flat and would also receive some of the money. As such, a few people have asked if she’s secretly hoping not to meet the target, but she denies this is the case. ‘Honestly, I would enjoy the success of reaching the target more. The aim is to get to the £300,000 price that I want for my property. ‘I think some people do look at this and think I’m just trying to profit, but it’s not me that set this up, it’s Raffall’s system. I was surprised that the extra financial benefit was part of their standard terms.’ Gina adds that if she weren’t to sell all of the tickets needed, she’d definitely be donating more of the ticket revenue to charity. Many people are concerned the raffle is a ‘scam’ (Picture: theflatraffle.com) If the competition is successful, Gina claims the breakdown of the proceeds includes ‘at least’ 5% for charity and the platform takes 10%. Then she’s got to allow for stamp duty, as well as covering the cost of marketing she has been doing for the raffle, plus legal fees. ‘By the end of it, after you take away the £300,000, I think there’s only about £8,000 or £9,000 left. So it isn’t really a profiteering exercise.’ And while Gina set out to do something ‘fun’, she does admit it’s been impacting her mental health. ‘I’m constantly thinking I should be doing more, like should I be doing a TikTok live every hour of the day or giving out leaflets every time I’m in public… I’ll be sitting on the Tube and wondering if I should stand up and start shouting about the raffle. ‘It’s definitely having an effect, so I have to take a moment sometimes.’ Be sure to do your research before entering the competition... Prospective participants should carefully examine the terms and conditions of the competition before entering. Factors such as whether the property is leasehold or freehold, and any applicable service charges or ground rent, should be taken into account, and participants should ensure their enquiries have been addressed before purchasing tickets. The Raffall web page clarifies: ‘The winner will take over the remaining lease term (88 years), and will subject to the leaseholder agreement, including payment of service charges and ground rent (currently £289 per month and £150 per year respectively).’ She’s also found it ‘quite hard’ to deal with the influx of people ‘begging’ her to give them the flat. ‘I’ve had messages from people telling me their life story and begging me to just pick them. ‘It’s hard because I can’t choose a winner. All I can say is that I really wish you luck and hope you get some good luck in life.’ If it were up to her though, she says her ideal scenario would be for the home to go to someone local, that might never have been able to afford to own a property otherwise. She adds: ‘It would hurt me if it was someone that’s already got a big property portfolio, because I want to try and make the housing situation a bit better and create more equality in that space.’ Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
