One raffle recently cancelled

One couple in Ardèche recently had to cancel a planned raffle to give away their 225m² home, worth €220,000. Franck and Patricia Fabre were hoping to sell between 6,000 and 8,000 raffle tickets at €50 each in order to pick a winner for the house in Cruas. Their website gagnernotremaison.com initially received lots of interest from the public, before the project was abandoned.

Just like in most countries, gaming laws in France prohibit organising any type of paid raffle featuring a property prize, if it is run for private gain. In fact, organising an illegal house raffle that fails to satisfy Loi 21 May 1836 (modified in 1924) carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment plus a €60,000 fine.

Unravel The Treasure Tube

At the same time, it is still possible to find house competitions giving away property in France. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, you may be interested to take a look at The Treasure Tube in our competitions directory. It offers players a chance of winning two properties in France (in Dordogne and Paris), valued at €1 million in total. In order to win the top prize, players must solve the riddles hidden in artist Michel Becker’s paintings, which are delivered in real size (3,281 x 3,281 ft) in a tube.

Read a book, win a house

French writer Jules Ambroziak recently launched a competition giving away his 80m² apartment, a €425,000 flat situated on the first floor of a chateau at Louveciennes (on the outskirts of Paris). To win the property, players have until midnight on 30 September to answer three questions based on his new book, "Le voisin de la rue des Ecarlates".

Mr Ambroziak is hoping to sell between 7,000 and 8,000 PDF copies of the book at €50 each. The first person to email the correct answers after midnight will win the house - as long as they can prove they purchased the book themselves. In an interview with Le Figaro, Ambroziak explained: “I launched the competition website on Tuesday after reading about the plight of the couple in Ardèche. Apparently, they managed to sell 6,000 tickets.”

Mr Ambroziak organised a similar promotion to launch another book in 2008, offering players a chance of winning some €20,000. Similarly, players were required to answer 13 questions based on the book correctly to be eligible to win. It will be interesting to see if he is able to repeat the exercise once again, this time with his own apartment offered as the top prize.

Have you come across other interesting house competitions in France recently? Alternatively, if you have seen similar contests in other countries, you're welcome to leave a comment. If not, why not take a look at French house competitions in our directory?

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Why is each country different?

I don't understand why gaming laws are so different from one country to another! wouldn't it make sense to agree some sort of common laws to allow everyone to know exactly where they stand?

Let's start by clarifying the situation in the UK and then we'll see :)

Wendy , 30 Jul 2009

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