Nearly a dozen people attempting to raffle their houses have been forced to withdraw their competitions or change terms and conditions following intervention by the Gambling Commission in the last few months.

The body, which regulates commercial gambling, warned that there appeared to have been a resurgence in the popularity of such schemes.

It confirmed that it had contacted 11 people between October 1 and the end of December to warn them about the schemes they were running.

The Commission has taken a close interest in house raffles since 2008 when they became popular. It intervened and closed more than 100 that year after they were judged to be unlawful lotteries.

Raffles, or lotteries as they are called in gambling law, involve entrants having to pay and the result is purely based on chance, such as a random draw of numbers or tickets. These can only be run by good causes such as charities, hospices, air-ambulance services and other not-for-profit causes. As a form of gambling, lotteries are regulated by the gambling commission and are subject to specific rules.

However, people can legally dispose of their home by running either free draws or prize competitions, which are not defined as gambling.

A free draw must have a free entry route (it can also have a paid route but both must be advertised in a way that will come to the notice of all participants). Paid entry routes usually include premium rate phone, SMS or website, while free entry routes typically include standard rate post and telephone.

Meanwhile, a prize competition must depend on the exercise of skill, knowledge or judgement by the participant, unlike a lottery, where the outcome depends on chance. The element of skill, knowledge or judgement must prevent a significant proportion of people from taking part, or prevent a significant proportion of people who do take part from receiving a prize.

Sarah Gardner, Gambling Commission executive director, said: “We don’t want to see members of the public getting into trouble because they don’t understand the rules about lotteries and the distinctions between them and competitions, and free draws, so we strongly urge people to read the advice on our website and take expert legal advice.

“When it comes down to it, if you run an illegal lottery you could face prosecution and, if convicted, a fine or imprisonment.

“We will continue to monitor the situation in the coming months and will continue to step in if we have concerns that any free draw or competition is in fact an illegal lottery.”

However, the Gambling Commission said it was not aware of anyone ever being jailed or fined for running an illegal lottery of this type.

The news came a day after EYE reported the launch of a property raffle website called Homes2Win, which currently lists just one property, a one-bedroom maisonette in Guildford, Surrey, owned by one of the firm’s directors, Robin Benjamin.

Valued at £320,000, competition entrants can snap it up for the £2.50 cost of a ticket and by answering a multiple choice question. The question is “What is the main ingredient in Bombay duck?” and the three possible answers are duck, fish or chicken. Each time the target price for a property is reached, Homes2Win promises that a portion of the money raised will be donated to charity.

Homes2Win appears confident that its scheme meets all of the rules. In answer to the question “Is this legal?” on the FAQs section of its website, the firm says: “You’ll be pleased to know that this whole idea is 100% legal and the process is fully legitimate. In fact these type of competitions are very rigorously monitored by the Gambling Commission to ensure everything is fair and all above board. There’s been a lot of paperwork, rules and regulations we’ve had to abide by, but we do it all so it’s easy for you guys – ENJOY!”

The Gambling Commission would not offer its own view, stating that it did not comment on individual cases.