A little inspiration if you're struggling to get on the property ladder...
A woman has just become Lady of the Manor (quite literally) after winning an £800,000 Lancashire house in a raffle.
Finance worker Marie Segar is now the owner of 18th Century Melling Manor in Lancashire after she bought tickets in a raffle set up by the house's owner Dunstan Low.
Low got the idea for a raffle after the house failed to sell for its £800,000 asking price. As news of the raffle spread, he ended up selling £900 000 worth of tickets to people from all over the world, including Russia and China.
The 6-bedroom Georgian house was also sold with the title Lady of Melling, which was donated by the house's previous owner St John's Hospice in North Lancashire as a thank you for the £30,000 of proceeds given to them from the raffle by Low.
'I’m just in shock. I can’t believe it, I just can’t. I don’t have a plan, I entered and I never thought for a moment... you know I haven’t even told anybody! Thank you so much!' Segar told Low - according to the Blackpool Gazette - when he called to say she'd won the house.
She had spent £40 on 20 raffle tickets, so didn't quite get the house for £2, but it's a damn good deal nonetheless...
