A prize company CEO says the UK’s rental stock shortage is driving tenants’ anxiety about rent rises.

Benno Spencer (main image), founder of Raffle House which gives away homes and other prizes, was shocked when a young winner who won £120,000 asked for anonymity due to fears around having to find a new rental property.

He believes those Millennials who despaired of ever having a place to call their own have seemingly moved past worrying they can’t afford to buy, to worrying they can’t afford to rent.

“As I prepared to deliver the good news to a player who had won our Bonus Draw prize of £10,000 a month for a year, I expected she’d be pretty excited,” explains Spencer. “Instead, her first reaction was fear that her landlord would increase the rent on her property to an unmanageable amount. Apparently, he’d put it up every year for the five years she’d been there and indicated a further rise was coming.”

Begged

She begged him not to publicise her prize as she feared this meant the increase would be even more than usual. Spencer says the idea that one of his prizes could have a negative impact on someone’s housing situation was concerning given the company’s original mission.

“This suggested to me that the UK’s housing market must be well and truly broken if someone who has won a six-figure sum is still worried about how they will pay for their housing costs over the long term,” he adds.

“One would think that a £120,000 prize could only improve one’s housing prospects, perhaps even be enough for a deposit on a place to buy. Instead, this winner was concerned about having to find a new place to live.

“Let’s hope things can be turned around before we have to start offering a place to rent as a prize.”