Many of us have wondered what we’d do if we won the home of our dreams in a competition.
It appears newlyweds Hillary and Franco McManus have taken the obvious approach – sell it.
Just two months after winning the luxury four-bedroom home in the Omaze Million Pound House prize draw, the property is now being listed for £5m on Zoopla.
At the time of their life-changing win in August, the McManuses described it as the “best wedding present ever”.
The property is situated in Victoria Park village, east London and comes with a gym, games room and spa facilities, including a jacuzzi and sauna.
As well as winning the most valuable property ever to be won in a UK prize draw, the couple – both originally from London but currently living in Nottinghamshire – also pocketed £250,000 cash.
Hillary, who bought the winning entry for just £20, said at the time: “One minute we were sitting at home gearing up for just another Friday night, deciding what we were gonna have for dinner and watch on telly, then before we knew what was happening, we’d won a £5 million house in London and our lives had changed forever. It turned out to be anything but your average Friday night!
“We only just got married a couple of months ago, and that was the best day of our lives, we never thought we’d top it,” added Hillary. “But all this is running it a very close second.”
The prize draw also raised £4m for London’s Air Ambulance Charity in six weeks.
The winner of each Omaze Million Pound House Draw can decide to live in the house, sell it to become a cash multi-millionaire or rent it out, with an estimated rental value of up to £12,000 per month.
Winners of the Omaze Million Pound House Draw do not have to pay any stamp duty, mortgage or conveyancing fees.
Yahoo News UK looks at whether Omaze winners have decided to sell, rent or stay in their new homes.
The £3m Cotswold Home
Winner: Sarah Stocks, 43
Money raised for charity: £3m for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH).
What they said: Sarah Stocks said when she found out about her epic prize she thought it was friends playing a joke on her.
She said: “It was just another Friday when I got a call saying I’d won an Omaze prize. My first reaction was that my friends were playing an elaborate practical joke on me!
“I didn’t think for one second I’d actually won anything, but the next thing I knew the Omaze team were on my front lawn telling me I’d won a £3m house in the Cotswolds – it was crazy!
“I still couldn’t believe it even when I got to the house – I kept expecting one of my friends to jump out a wardrobe and shout gotcha!”
What they did: Stocks is still deciding what to do long-term with the property.
Outcome: TBC
The £3m Spanish villa
Winner: Graham Dunlop, 52, from Southampton, Hampshire
Money raised for charity: £3.1m for Alzheimer’s Research UK
What they said: Graham Dunlop said: “The reason I entered the draw is quite random really, I’d been after an armchair for my home office for a while and one popped up on Gumtree. I went to pick it up but when we arrived the woman refused to take any money for it.
”Instead, she asked that we put something towards an Alzheimer’s charity, as her late husband had dementia. So I made a donation to Alzheimer’s Research UK, then saw that they’d also partnered with Omaze, so I bought an entry to the Superdraw on top.
”I didn’t give it a second thought and had totally forgotten I’d even entered.
What they did: Dunlop said he is not sure what they’ll do long-term, but they’ll be using the vila for some family holidays, adding: “Whatever we decide, this win is fantastic for our family’s future.”
Outcome: TBC
The £3m Somerset Mansion
Winner: Michael Maher, 53, from Luton
Money raised for charity: £3.5m for the RSPCA
What they said: Michael Maher paid just £10 for an Omaze ticket and in January won the keys to a £3m mansion and £100,000 in cash – after his family told him he’d “only win a toaster”. He said after hearing the news: “It was your average Friday night really, apart from the fact we’d just become millionaires! My son and daughter asked us if they can quit their Saturday jobs now that we own a mansion – we said absolutely not, we want them to stay grounded.”
What they did: Maher is still deciding what to do with the property he won in January 2024.
Outcome: TBC
The £1m Cheshire House 2020
Winner: Ian Garrick from Lincolnshire
Money raised for charity: £250,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust
What they said: Father-of-three Ian Garrick lost his wife Julie to breast cancer about five years before he won the four-bedroom home in Cheadle Hulme. He paid £10 to purchase 15 entries to the draw. He said: “I’m completely overwhelmed. I can’t get my head around it. It will take some time to sink in. Things like this just don’t happen. I’m in shock. I’m still taking it all in at the moment.”
What they did: Garrick announced his plan to sell the house immediately after winning and did so a year later in May 2021.
Outcome: Sold
The £3m Fulham House 2020
Winner: Marilyn Pratt from Greater London
Money raised for charity: £1,000,000 for British Heart Foundation
What they said: Marilyn Pratt bought a £10 ticket on the second last day of the draw in an effort to win a house for her daughter. She said: “It hasn’t sunk in at all. It makes me feel so happy that even though this has come at a later stage of my life, I know that my children are always going to be secure and that’s a really nice feeling. It’s very strange to think that I’m an instant multi-millionaire, it’s only just starting to sink in.”
What they did: At the time, Pratt said she intended to sell the house in order to support her daughters. The house was sold in April 2021.
Outcome: Sold
The £2.5m Cotswolds House 2021
Winner: Darren Wordon from Bath
Money raised for charity: £500,000 for the Prince’s Trust
What they said: “‘This is life changing, thank you very very much. I can’t even begin to tell you how big this is for us.”
What they did: Within seven months of winning, Wordon had put the Willowbrook House mansion in Oxfordshire back on the market. Omaze has since confirmed it’s been sold.
Outcome: Sold
The £3m Devon House 2021
Winner: Glen Elmy from Walsall
Money raised for charity: £1m for NSPCC
What they said: Glen Elmy won the luxurious Stealth House five-bedroom home in Combe Martin Bay. He said: “This is a grand prize beyond anybody’s wildest dreams. I can’t quite get my head around it. I think I’m still dreaming. I’m over the moon.”
What they did: However, just three days after winning the house, he handed back the keys. He has never moved into the property.
Outcome: Didn’t move in
The £3.5m Wimbledon House 2021
Winner: Heekyoung Jin from Wallington, south London
Money raised for charity: £500,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
What they said: Heekyoung Jin entered the draw to win the four-bedroom house in south west London to support Great Ormond Street Hospital, where her son had been treated since he was three months old after a tumour was found on his chest. She said: “It’s surreal! I can’t believe it could happen to us. We’re super excited for our family’s future. It’s life-changing.”
What they did: Jin and her husband, Tom Hall, have not sold the property.
Outcome: Stayed
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The £3.5m Ascot House 2021
Winner: Becca Pott from Leyton, east London
Money raised for charity: £500,000 for Cancer Research UK
What they said: Pott bought a £10 ticket for the draw when her husband Ben forgot to enter. She said: “It’s going to change our family’s life in a way we never thought would be possible.”
What they did: Pott and her husband Ben decided to keep the house.
Outcome: Stayed
The £3m Lake District House 2021
Winner: Catherine Carwardine from Telford
Money raised for charity: £1m for Alzheimer’s Research UK
What they said: “At first, we didn’t believe it as it was April’s Fools’ Day. We thought the kids were playing a prank on us. Still cannot believe we have won and are in shock and probably will be for a while.”
What they did: After her win, Carwardine said she planned to rent out the Post Knott Lodge in Bowness-on-Windermere in the Lake District, Cumbria.
Outcome: Rented
The £3.5m Cotswolds House 2022
Winner: Susan Havenhand from Taunton
Money raised for charity: £1m for the RSPCA
What they said: “We thought people never actually win these things, and even though we’re at the house now, it still feels like we’re dreaming, we keep waiting to wake up. It just goes to show you’ve got to be in it to win it.”
What they did: Neighbours said Havenhand and her family never moved into the property and it was sold a while later.
Outcome: Sold
The £3m Cornwall House 2022
Winner: Uttam Parmar from Leicestershire
Money raised for charity: £1m for Blood Cancer UK
What they said: “I’ve always considered myself a lucky person, firstly because of my wonderful family – but I’ve also won a few bits such as a TV and coffee table – which I was pretty happy with to be honest – I never dreamed I’d win anything as extravagant as a £3m house.”
What they did: It was put back on the market. Omaze have since confirmed that it’s been sold.
Outcome: Sold
The £2.5m Kent House 2022
Winner: Jade from the Midlands
Money raised for charity: £750,000 for Global’s Make Some Noise
What they said: “There will never be quite enough words to describe how this whole experience has felt to me and my family. We are still overwhelmed but we know that this will hopefully help our family for a very long time to come.”
What they did: She put the house on the market shortly after winning it.
Outcome: Put up for sale
The £2m Marbella House 2022
Winner: Mark from Wigan
Money raised for charity: £800,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust
What they said: “Still in shock, you enter not really expecting to win. Having had a sleepless night, the enormity of winning such a prize is both exhilarating and daunting, my head is spinning with the realisation of the financial security this prize now bring to my family.”
What they did: He sold the property shortly after winning the prize.
Outcome: Sold
The £2.5m Lake District House 2022
Winner: Grant Carson from Glasgow
Money raised for charity: £850,000 for Dogs Trust.
What they said: “When the Omaze team rang my doorbell I couldn’t quite believe it at first, it’s not your average Friday night that someone comes to your door and tells you that you’ve won a £2.5m house! I’ve never really won anything before this, but now I might be one of the luckiest men in Scotland!”
What they did: Carson put the property up for sale six months later.
Outcome: Sold
The £3m London II House 2022
Winner: Kevin Johnson from east London
Money raised for charity: £2m for the British Heart Foundation
What they said: “My knees almost gave way and my chest felt like it was on fire – I was gobsmacked! I’m just a regular hard-working guy who gets up early for work in the morning, comes home in the evening, and spends time with my family. Things like this just do not happen to normal guys like myself.”
What they did: Kevin Johnson and his wife, Dee, have decided to remain in the property.
Outcome: Stayed
The £4.5m Cornwall House 2023
Winner: June Smith from Essex
Money raised for charity: £2.1m for Marie Curie
What they said: “Never in my wildest dreams would I expect to win anything like this. It will have enough room for all my family to holiday together.”
What they did: June Smith, a grandmother of six, put the house overlooking the Fowey Estuary up for sale almost immediately.
Outcome: Sold
Winners last year were Oceanne Belle from Barking; Jon from Berkshire; Simon Williams from West Sussex, who, according to the MailOnline, has yet to move into the £2m house he won in Devon; Daren Bell from Bournemouth; Eliza Yahioglu from London and Will Satherley from Cardiff.
A spokesperson for Omaze told Yahoo News UK: “Omaze Grand Prize winners receive £100,000 in cash to help them settle in and maintain their new property.
“Estimated costs for each house are available for entrants to view on the Omaze website.
“Winners can decide to either live in the house, rent it out for a supplementary income or sell it to become a cash multi-millionaire.
“They are free to put the house on the market and bank the cash as soon as they get the keys, it’s totally up to the winner what they want to do with their life changing prize.
“Omaze is delighted to have created 25 millionaires whilst also raising £40m for good causes in the UK since it launched here.”
The £2.5m Dorset house 2024
Winner: Chris Milnes from West Yorkshire
Money raised for charity: £3.2m for Children In Need
What they said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever own a multi-million-pound house. I spent much of my childhood living in a council flat in Leeds – things like this don’t happen to people like me!“
What they did: Kevin Milnes has decided to put the property on the market later this year.
Outcome: TBC
The £3.5m Cheshire house 2024
Winner: Kevin Bryant from Plymouth
Money raised for charity: £3m for Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK
What they said: “I’d been manifesting this win for ages, telling anyone who would listen that the house was already mine! But when I came home from work to see the Omaze team outside my house – I still couldn’t believe my eyes! Once everyone had gone I cracked open the good whisky to celebrate – I thought if you can’t drink a good whisky after winning a £3.5million house, when can you!?”
What they did: Kevin Bryant has not yet decided what to do with the property.
Outcome: TBC
