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Omaze winner waits more than a year for £6m home

Owen SennittNorfolk
Omaze Vicky and her husband Dale standing outside at night with blurry lights in the background. She wears a purple raincoat and large black scarf, and holds a small black pouch with the word Omaze on it. Dale wears a green quilted jacket and has his arm round Vicky. He has cropped light brown hair, she has long wavy dark brown hair.Omaze
Vicky Curtis-Cresswell and her husband Dale, from South Wales, won the Blakeney home in the Omaze prize draw

A competition winner is set to get the keys to a £6m house more than a year after she won it in a charity prize raffle - but was prevented from claiming it because of planning issues.

Sources close to Vicky Curtis-Cresswell claim she has faced an "extremely stressful time" after winning the home in Blakeney, Norfolk, in an Omaze draw.

Curtis-Cresswell, from South Wales, had been unable to take ownership of the coastal property after a tip-off triggered a council investigation which discovered it had breached rules.

Omaze said lawyers were finalising legal matters before completing the transfer, having spent months working to resolve building issues.

Omaze A large mansion-style house with a balcony. There is also a patio on the ground floor round the back of the house which has seating areas and a swimming pool. Omaze
The luxury home was offered as a prize by Omaze for Comic Relief in March 2025

Omaze said: "We are pleased to confirm that all remaining works at the Blakeney property have been completed, and the home is ready for handover.

"Omaze appreciates that the process has taken time given the initial planning-related matters initiated by third parties that have been fully resolved and looks forward to completing the handover shortly."

Curtis-Cresswell won the three-bed home in what was then described by Omaze in 2025 as its biggest ever prize draw, raising money for Comic Relief.

But before she was announced as the winner, North Norfolk District Council launched an investigation that found it was in breach of planning rules.

Officials discovered a number of elements built without the correct permission, including a swimming pool, extension, four-bay garage and tennis court.

Omaze bought the property in 2024 after it was built by its previous owners and had to gain retrospective permission for the changes, which was granted in October last year.

Qays Najm/BBC A drone image of Larkfield in Blakeney, showing the house, extensions, tennis court, swimming pool and lawns and wild grasslands around.Qays Najm/BBC
While planning permission was granted for the house in 2020, a swimming pool, tennis court, summerhouse and four-bay garage were built without consent

A source close to Curtis-Cresswell has told the BBC she had had "an extremely stressful time" due to the uncertainty and "constant questioning for updates from friends, family and strangers".

Omaze said she had already received a £250,000 cash prize and has been "regularly updated and supported throughout the process".

It plans to arrange a walk-through of the property this month for Curtis-Cresswell before the conveyancing process is completed.

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