One man is beating the crunch after winning a £400,000 in a £50 raffle.

The brand new one-bedroom Whitchapel apartment kitted out with a jacuzzi and a steam room was given away in a charity competition.

winalondonpad.com is the first 'property raffle' to get the go-ahead after several fell foul of lottery licensing laws - it only got around the law by complicating one of the competition questions.

Nearly £200,000 profit?

The math’s show MIA Developments, who set up the competition to beat the stagnant property market, made £625,000 from the draw. Minus the £400,000 value of the property and £40,000 given to charity - they made around £185,000 profit.

They gave away the first flat in York House at a loss and some of the money is used to cover stamp duty and ticket sale transaction costs.

£40,000 for children’s hospital - could raise £500,000

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Society received £40,000 of the raffle money, receiving £3 of every ticket sold.

It could receive another £500,000 from the competitions still to come. A spokesman for the charity said:

 "We're very pleased for the winner and delighted that £40,000 has been raised so far."

The hospital is putting the money towards a four-bed cardiac ward in its heart and lung centre, due to open in 2012.

Winner: "Life changing"

Stephen Lakey, 37, has spoken of his disbelief at winning the "life-changing" prize.

The IT project manager, who lives with and helps support his unemployed parents in a council flat in Abbots Langley, near Watford, now owns a new, one-bedroom flat in Whitechapel with a Jacuzzi, steam room and Italian designer kitchen.

Mr Lakey said:

"I still can't believe it. It's life-changing.

"I can't wait to move to the city - it's the first time I will have lived away from home."

"I bought two tickets last month for the hell of it when I saw some of the money was going to such a good cause. I thought nothing more of it until I received a phone call telling me I'd won.

"I was speechless. It's a very luxurious flat. I'm going to live in it at first and then maybe rent it or sell it later on. It's the best £100 I ever spent."

More draws to come

MIA's managing director Rafik Patel, 27, said:

"The draw is a great way to raise money for charity while making sure someone wins some fantastic flats and we make a profit in this difficult economic climate.

"All 10 apartments must be won and those who have already entered will automatically qualify for the new draw."