Company cancels raffle for five-bed Co Waterford home after pushback from locals

A COMPANY THAT raffles homes, cars and money in prize draws has cancelled a planned draw for a house in Co Waterford after pushback from locals. 

Waterford-based Blaa Giveaways called off the raffle for the five-bed home in Tramore following discussions with angry locals. The company had purchased a home in a housing estate in the seaside town.

Such prize draws have grown popular in some parts of the country in recent years against the backdrop of the housing crisis, as they allow people to enter draws for as little as €3 to potentially win big prizes.

But local residents and TDs say that they are concerned raffles like this can inflate house prices in the area. 

The company’s website says it has run competitions that have seen more than €10 million in prizes awarded since it was established two years ago, with more than 50,000 winners for homes, cars, electronic devices and cash prizes.

In letters sent to local politicians, residents said they feared local families could have been outbid in the company’s purchase of the home. 

There was further concern over whether the house could be converted by any raffle winner into a short-term let, given its location in a popular tourism hotspot.

The Journal asked Blaa Giveaways about these concerns but it did not respond in time for publication.

Residents discovered the raffle was planned when representatives of the company were at the house over recent weeks.

Following the meeting this week between residents and the raffle company, they exchanged emails where the company agreed not to go ahead with the draw.

It remains unclear if the company intends to return the home to the market.

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According to company documents, Blaa Giveaways is run by Pleo Media Ltd.

The company, established in 2024, has Tramore-based architect Paul Leonard listed as a director alongside five other directors who are based in Northern Ireland.

Leonard regularly appears in videos on the company’s social media and is understood to have met with residents as part of discussions over the past week to discuss the opposition to the sale.

According to the Property Price Register, the Tramore home was previously bought in a 2023 sale for €506,000, but was listed over the summer with an asking price north of €700,000.

Some of its draws net big money: a raffle for a three-bed cottage in Kenmare attracted some 350,000 entries, according to the company. With tickets costing €2.99, it would have meant approximately €1 million in entry money.

If the eventual winner did not want the cottage, they were given the option of claiming €250,000 instead.

People ‘priced out of the market’

Waterford Sinn Féin TD Conor McGuinness told The Journal that he had been contacted by the residents, and said there has long been a risk of local people are finding themselves “priced out of the market” in popular tourist towns.

He added that there was a risk of the housing market being “further distorted by commercial interests” in the forms of raffle firms, and he has contacted the housing and justice ministers seeking clarity on how these activities are regulated.

“I have been contacted by people in Waterford who are concerned about commercial operators buying residential properties to raffle as prizes,” McGuinness said.

At a time when so many people are struggling to find an affordable home, we need to be asking serious questions about any commercial activity that adds to the pressure on our housing supply.

Questions have also been raised in the Oireachtas whether raffles of this kind fall under gambling legislation.

When contacted, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) told The Journal that the recent Gambling Regulation Act 2024 will eventually extend to encompass the wider industry.

“Once the relevant legislation has commenced, the GRAI will oversee the licensing, compliance, and enforcement of gaming and lottery operators. Generally, operators who provide a paid online prize competition will be governed by the Gambling Regulation Act 2024,” the GRAI said.