Couple put £4.5m Omaze-winning London townhouse up for sale three months after prize win
Roger and Shalini Cana, who won a mortgage-free Borough townhouse and £250,000 in an Omaze draw, listed the former council house at the same price they were awarded
A London townhouse that a couple won in an Omaze prize draw in May 2025 has been put on the market just three months after they received the keys, the sellers' listing shows.
Roger Cana, 37, a hospitality worker, and his wife Shalini, 33, an accountant, won the five-storey, four-bedroom Georgian townhouse in south London and £250,000 in cash after entering the Omaze Million Pound House Draw. The couple, who had been living in a studio flat in Hayes, west London, and were expecting their first child when they won, have listed the property for the same £4.5 million valuation it carried as the grand prize.
The property, described in the listing as a five-storey townhouse with an award-winning garden and uninterrupted views of The Shard, was formerly billed as Britain’s most expensive council house before being sold as the Omaze prize. Omaze said the homes it awards are mortgage-free and that stamp duty and legal fees were covered for the winners; this package also included roughly £150,000 of furnishings, the company said.
In a statement announcing the decision to sell, Roger Cana said the family had treasured the months they spent at the house after the prize win and after welcoming their son. He said the couple had decided to sell because the proceeds would allow them to provide a more secure future for their child and loved ones. "The money from the sale will change everything for us," he said in the statement.
Omaze said winners are free to live in, rent out or sell the homes immediately and that the £250,000 cash prize is intended to help with settling-in and running costs. The company also said the London draw raised £4.1 million for The King's Trust, a charity that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The townhouse is in the Borough area near landmarks including Borough Market, the Tate Modern and the South Bank. The interior retains period features alongside contemporary upgrades, with a Bisazza-tiled ground floor, a bespoke eat-in kitchen equipped with high-end appliances, a steel-framed sun room, a formal dining room and multiple reception spaces. The property also includes a separate studio space that could serve as a home office and an award-winning garden designed by Chelsea Flower Show gold-medal winners.
Estate agents quoted in media coverage said a long-term rental could command between £8,000 and £10,000 per month. Omaze previously estimated that the £250,000 cash prize could fund running costs for a winner for several years, allowing winners to live in a home without immediate financial pressure.
The listing and the couple’s decision to sell prompted commentary on social media, with some users saying they would have kept the house and others noting the difficulty of covering ongoing costs such as council tax and insurance. One user wrote, "If I had won it, I'd want to keep it, it's lovely. Realistically, I'm not sure I could even pay for the council tax and insurance on it though." Another commented on the frequency with which Omaze properties are resold: "No-one seems to keep them!"
Omaze said the partnership model behind its prize draws has created 40 millionaires in the U.K. while raising more than £100 million for charities. The company reiterated that its grand-prize packages typically include cash to cover running costs and furnish the properties, and that winners have multiple options for how to use their prize.
The Cana family's listing follows a period in which they publicly celebrated their win, describing the moment they were told they had secured the house as "unbelievable" and recounting plans at the time to raise their son in the residence. The sale listing does not specify an asking price below or above the prize valuation; the property is being offered at the same £4.5 million figure cited when it was awarded as the Omaze grand prize.
The King's Trust said the funds raised through the draw will support education and employment programs aimed at helping young people who struggle in mainstream education to build skills and access job opportunities in the future.