£105m EuroMillions winner swaps terraced home for £4.5m estate in Kent

Builder who won £105m EuroMillions jackpot swaps terraced home for £4.5m estate in Kent with 14 acres of land, swimming pool and party barn – and plans on refurbishing it himself

• Steve Thomson, 43, and his wife Lenka, 42 won the lottery in November 2019
• They initially carried on living in their modest three-bed home in West Sussex 
• Now they have moved into a six-bed farm house which is set on an estate in Kent
• It boasts a swimming pool, tennis court and party barn but needs ‘a lot of work’ 

A builder who won £105million on the EuroMillions lottery has swapped his modest terraced home for a £4.5million estate.

Steve Thomson, 43, and his wife Lenka, 42, won the huge sum in November 2019 but then carried on living in their three-bed home in Selsey, West Sussex, for more than a year. 

Now, they have moved in to a six-bed farm house in Kent which is set on a 14.5acre estate and boasts a swimming pool, tennis court and party barn. 

Mr Thomson said there is a ‘lot of work’ which needs doing in his new property – and he plans to do it all himself. 

Steve Thomson, 43, and his wife Lenka, 42, who won £105million on the EuroMillions lottery, have swapped their modest terraced home for a £4.5million estate (pictured above)

Mr Thomson and his wife (pictured above shortly after their win) won the huge sum in November 2019 but then carried on living in their three-bed home in Selsey, West Sussex, for more than a year

The home also has two kitchens, five reception rooms and a games room, according to The Sun. 

Outside, there are two lakes, a pond, landscaped gardens and stables.

Speaking to The Sun, father-of-three Mr Thomson, a former conservatory fitter, said: ‘The kids have finally got their own bedrooms. It’s a simple thing but it was all they ever wished for.

‘I still haven’t got over what happened to us and am honestly still trying to process it still. ‘

He added: ‘We are very lucky to be in this place but there’s a lot of work that needs doing, so I’ll be focusing on that for the time being.’

Speaking seven months after their win, Mr and Mrs Thomson said they did not want the fact that they had become overnight millionaires to change them.

The couple previously lived in this modest home in Selsey, West Sussex, with their three children

Speaking to The Sun, father-of-three Mr Thomson, a former conservatory fitter, said: ‘The kids have finally got their own bedrooms. It’s a simple thing but it was all they ever wished for’

As a result, they refused to buy anything ‘too flash’. Their only major purchases were a second-hand Volkswagen camper van Mr Thomson and a Volvo XC90 for his wife. 

Mr Thomson also carried on working to fulfil his standing orders after his win.  

A neighbour of the family, Ellie Wood, 42, previously said: ‘Steve and his wife are salt of the earth. I’m not shocked that Steve is continuing to finish off jobs he had on his books – that’s just the type of guy he is. He’d never leave anyone in the lurch.’

Mr Thomson only realised he had won as he waited to be picked up for work three days after the draw was made.

‘I still haven’t got over what happened to us and am honestly still trying to process it still. ‘ He added: ‘We are very lucky to be in this place but there’s a lot of work that needs doing, so I’ll be focusing on that for the time being’

He said: ‘I am not sure I even looked at the first two lines, the third one just jumped out and I could instantly tell they all matched. I started shaking a lot. I knew it was a really big win but didn’t know what to do.

‘I went out to my van, walked back in, thought about knocking on a neighbour’s door, went back to the van – I think I was on the verge of having a heart attack.’

He said his parents refused to believe he had scooped the jackpot, telling him: ‘We’ll believe it when we see it.’

Mr Thomson added: ‘Now they believe it.’ 

Who is the biggest ever UK lottery winner? Two couples and a former car mechanic top list

Here are the ten previous UK winners of the EuroMillions draw so far

1. In July 2011, Colin and Chris Weir became Europe’s biggest lottery winners when they scooped more than £161million.

The couple, who have been married for 30 years, said they were ‘not scared’ of the wealth because they were going to have ‘so much fun’ with the money.

The pair, a retired TV cameraman and a retired psychiatric nurse, from Largs, in Ayrshire, said their children Carly, a photography student, and Jamie, a call centre worker, would be bought their own homes and cars.

The family made a £1million donation to the SNP shortly after winning.

Colin and Chris Weir became Europe’s biggest lottery winners when they scooped more than £161million in 2011

2. Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Suffolk, took home more than £148 million in August 2012.

The marriage ended just 15 months into their new jackpot winning lives, citing the stress of the money as the reason they needed to split.

At the time, a spokesman for Mrs Bayford said: ‘Gillian Bayford confirms that her marriage to Adrian has broken down irretrievably and they have separated.’

It came after Mrs Bayford was forced to deny she had an affair with the couple’s gardener, Chris Tovey. 

Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Suffolk, took home more than £148 million in August 2012

3. An anonymous ticket-holder took home £123m in July

4. Patrick and Frances Connolly from County Armagh scooped the entire £115million EuroMillions jackpot on New Year’s Day 2019

5. An unnamed ticket-holder claimed just over £113million in October 2010, and chose not go public. 

6. Neil Trotter, from south London, won nearly £108million, going from former car mechanic to multimillionaire in March 2014.

Neighbours in Croydon described he and partner Nicky Ottaway moved out ‘almost overnight’ after they scooped the EuroMillions jackpot last March.

Mr Trotter admitted at the time that he was like his namesake, Del Boy Trotter from Only Fools And Horses.

Neil Trotter, with partner Nicky Ottaway, won nearly £108million, going from former car mechanic to multimillionaire in March 2014

7. Steve Thomson and his wife Lenka, from West Sussex, became the UK’s biggest EuroMillions winners when they claimed a prize worth £105million in November 2019. 

8. A couple from Cambridgeshire, Dave and Angela Dawes, won more than £101million on their third go on the EuroMillions draw in October 2011.

Mr Dawes said he ‘didn’t sleep a wink’ the night of the win, as it was too late to call Camelot after the couple checked their numbers.

Last year, the couple were taken to court by his son, an Afghanistan veteran, Michael Dawes, 32, who said he was ‘ungenerous in spirit’.

But a judge ruled the millionaire father does not need to keep bailing out his son, who burnt through £1.6million in two years, and came back for more, failing to heed his stepmother’s advice to stop eating at the Ritz and go to McDonald’s instead.

Dave and Angela Dawes won more than £101million on their third go on the EuroMillions draw in October 2011

9. A UK winner got a £93 million payout in June 2015, but decided to remain anonymous.

10. The Davies from Wales family won £61million on the EuroMillions in 2016

Stephanie Davies, 23 is said to have ‘reluctantly’ purchased the ticket at the time after her mother Sonia called her from Florida begging her to go out and buy one.

Keith Reynolds, Sonia Davies, Stephanie, Courtney Davies and Steve Powell all scooped money on the jackpot and said they were the ‘luckiest people’ on the planet to have won. 

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