Millionaire gives single mum a £120,000 flat for free
Marco Robinson, a 49-year-old multimillionaire and property mogul, decided to share his good fortune, by buying a flat three-bedroom flat in Preston, and giving it away completely free to someone who desperately needed it. In the end he decided to give the flat to Holly, an 18-year-old single mum, who had been living in a mould-ridden flat with her baby daughter, Bethany.
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Marco, who is worth £25 million, owns 150 properties, and decided to buy another in order to give something back. He advertised for applicants for the £120,000 property, and received 8,000. He drew up a shortlist of just three groups of people, and met them all in order to choose who would receive the flat. As well as Holly there was a woman losing her sight and a family of Syrian refugees.
He chose Holly, because he said her experience resonated with him. He went through difficult times with his mother growing up, after she moved them both out of the troubled family home. She worked hard, but often struggled to pay the rent, and the pair spent nights sleeping in parks in Derbyshire and London.
After he saw the mouldy flat that Holly was living in with her daughter, he decided to give her a safe and secure home for Bethany. He said he hoped that not having to worry about paying for a home would help Holly return to her studies too.
Choosing between the three groups was the hardest decision of his life, so Marco decided he also wanted to help the others, and gave Jo, the partially sighted woman, the deposit for a home of her own. He also arranged for somewhere for Mahmoud and his sons to stay while they waited for their asylum to be granted.
Was this fair?
Marco's story was broadcast on Channel 4 last night, in Get a House for Free. The reaction from viewers who took to social media after the show was somewhat mixed. There were those who called it "poverty porn", and some who likened the competitive element to the Hunger Games. One Tweeted: ""Get a house for free" seems to be a cross between the National Lottery and "The Hunger Games." And another added: "Get a House For Free is such a cruel programme. Making vulnerable and desperate people compete like this is heartbreaking."
Others disagreed, including one who Tweeted: "How amazing is get a house for free? Top top bloke that Marco". Another added: "Get a House for free was wonderful last night, that man was so kind. There are still wonderful people who will help others without greed."
But what do you think? Let us know in the comments.
