The ‘Last House in Shropshire’ is the grand prize in a unique competition designed by its owners to beat the housing slump.
The former Border Cafe near Middletown has been on the market for 12 months after its owners Nick and Liz Turner decided to move to France.
Liz and three of the couple’s six children are already living in Brittany with her mother, but after a year without viewings and the continuing downward trend in the market, the pair have come up with the novel idea to sell the seven-bedroom house.
“We’ve had the house on the market for more than a year and we want to sell it,” said Liz.
Nick said: “We’ve got a solicitor who’s drawn up the conditions and we had the house valued at £500,000. We need to sell 33,333 tickets at £15 to get that, if we don’t sell enough tickets people can still win a cash prize.”
Liz added: “I’ve got MS and I’ve already moved to France for a better quality of life and to be near my mother who helps with the children. But my husband’s stuck over here and we’ve decided because we want to move on why not do it this way? It’s the last house in Shropshire before Wales and it’s really lovely, but we want to move on with our lives.”
Nick said he was aware of people doing this competition before and after speaking to Trading Standards and the Gambling Commission they decided to go for it.
Full terms and conditions and tickets for the competition to win the home cost £15 and are available only by answering a question on the website www.shropshirehouse.co.uk
• 48-page property supplement page 25, Shrewsbury Chronicle, August 1, 2008.