Schoolteacher who won £2million mansion in Win My Home £10 prize draw ‘was given just £5,000’ after organisers failed to raise enough cash in the competition

• Loretta, 35, said she was heartbroken because her current home is a ‘death trap’ 

A schoolteacher who won a £2million mansion in a Win My Home prize draw said she was given just £5,000 – after the organisers failed to raise enough cash for the competition. 

Loretta, 35, from Radford, was announced as the winner of the luxury property in Nottingham. 

The clip shows a woman approach Loretta’s home with a bunch of flowers before telling her: ‘You’re the winner of our Nottingham prize draw’ – without clarifying what she had won. 

Loretta said she was devastated to be told afterwards that she would not be getting the house and instead receiving £5,000.

‘It was heartbreaking because my property at the moment is a death-trap, that’s why I entered it,’ she said. 

Loretta, 35, (left) was announced as the winner of a £2million mansion for a Win My Home competition, but said she instead received £5,000. Pictured: Loretta being told she had won the prize 

The property’s owner Elliot Andrew (right) put the luxury Nottingham home (left) up for auction 

One of the terms and conditions listed on the website – a rule which Loretta said she did not see before entering – states that if £2.5million of net sales are not reached then the winner will receive 50 per cent of the net proceeds.

But in emails that NottinghamshireLive reported they had seen, the competition organisers claimed they had made a loss and awarded the £5,000 as a ‘goodwill gesture’. They added they had spent nearly £200,000 on ‘marketing costs’ and were unable to process Visa payments ‘for a long time’.

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The prize draw, which ran between March and August, offered the chance to win a six-bedroom four-storey villa.

Packages offered ranged from 15 entries for £10 to 1000 entries for £350, with the option of one free postal entry. The winner announcement video, which shows Loretta’s elation at hearing she had won the draw, is accompanied by a statement.

It reads: ‘She and her husband have been looking to buy their first home together! We’re so happy for you both and wish you all the best for your next chapter,’ followed by an emoji of a house.

Speaking to NottinghamshireLive, Loretta, who wished to withhold her surname, recalled the interaction. ‘Two people came and they said ”yes you’ve won” and I was like ”yes, where are my keys?”

‘And they told me I hadn’t won the house but I had won a grand prize of £5,000. I was like ”right, thanks” and they said ”unfortunately because we didn’t raise enough money I can’t give you the house”.’

They instead told her they could transfer £5,000 straight to her bank account. 

Loretta and her husband were desperate to move away from their council home, which she said has ‘horrible’ mould. 

‘All we’re trying to do is get out of this property,’ she said.

‘I entered it thinking this could be a new start, maybe it might happen.’ She also said she was receiving messages and being approached in the street by people who had seen her in the announcement video and thought she had won the house.

The prize draw, which ran between March and August, offered the chance to win a six-bedroom four-storey villa (pictured) 

Loretta and her husband were desperate to move away from their council home, which she said has ‘horrible’ mould

Loretta said she was devastated to be told afterwards that she would not be getting the house and instead receiving £5,000

‘People have got in touch with me saying congratulations, but I say ”don’t congratulate me because I didn’t win.” They say I’m lying, she said. 

‘I need everyone to stop saying congratulations. It’s not that I’m not grateful for the £5,000.

‘Even if they said we can’t give you the house but here’s £50,000, it’s something. But £5,000? £5,000 now can’t even get you gas and electrics.’

Responding to Loretta about her concerns by email, Win My Home said the terms of conditions are ‘very explicit’ that the winner would get a percentage of the net profit if enough money was not raised.

‘Unfortunately, after nearly £200,000 in marketing costs and the issue that we discussed about not being able to process Visa payments for a long time, there was no profit and in fact we made a loss,’ it said. 

‘The amount that we have awarded actually came from our own personal pockets because, we wanted to award you something as a goodwill gesture and hoped that it would make a positive difference to your lives.

‘The alternative was awarding nothing which we would obviously not have felt great about.’ It added that the financial issues it had faced on the draw had been resolved and said ‘there’s a great chance that the next draw will be a huge success’.

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