Couple who won £45million lottery spend just £250,000 on a new home

Minted: Cassey Carrington and Matt Topham have moved up the property ladder since their £45million lottery win

After winning £45million on the lottery, they declared they would buy themselves the home of their dreams.
But few would have suspected that this small £249,000 house on a cul-de-sac in Nottinghamshire was what Matt Topham and his fiancée Cassey Carrington had in mind.
The 22-year-olds are said to be ‘delighted’ with their new home, but with a housing estate on one side and a busy main road to the other, it could hardly be described as idyllic.
And it also emerged today that the couple are to share their luck with one of their best friends by handing him £1.3million as a gift.
However, Mr Topham has so far not given a single penny to his estranged mother, Julie, with whom he has no contact in seven years.
Mr Topham and Miss Carrington are to set their friend Eddie Smith, a web development student, up for life with the incredible hand out.
The trio have known each other since their teenage years, and Mr Topham and Miss Carrington call Mr Smith, who is also 22, their 'bestest friend', The Sun reported.
After their amazing win, Mr Topham and Miss Carrington offered Mr Smith £1million, but when he told them he would use the money to pay off his parents' mortgage and help his brother, the pledged to give him more.
A friend told The Sun: 'It's a fantastic gesture and proves Matt and Cassey don't intend to leave their friends behind despite their mountains of cash.
'They've both been friends of Eddie for years - they call him their "bestest" friend.
'When he told them what he wanted to do with the money, they said they'd up the amount to £1.3million, just like that.'
Mr Topham's mother said she had heard of his and Miss Carrington's plans to give the huge sum away to their friend and added that she wished luck to them all.
Last night Mr Topham and Miss Carrington's new neighbours said they were ‘stunned’ that a couple with more than £45million to spend would choose so modest a home.

Winners and losers: Matt (left) with his friend Eddie Smith, who is setting up in business with a £1m hand-out, and his mother, Julie, with whom he hasn't spoken in seven years, but who wished them all luck

‘Why buy this when you could buy yourself a mansion?’ said one. ‘It doesn’t make any sense to me.’
He said the house had been on the market since 2009, but nobody wanted to buy it because it was so close to the other houses in the road.
‘They’ll have to make sure they draw their curtains,’ the neighbour added.
‘Otherwise people will be able to see straight into their bedroom.’
Another neighbour, Jody Lester, 35, said: ‘It is a strange choice of property for a multi-millionaire couple.
‘The plot is just too small and the back garden would not be enough if you had children.’

A third neighbour said he was ‘stunned’ to hear that two multi-millionaires would want to live in such a ‘claustrophobic’ part of the road. ‘We’ve always said you would need more money than sense to buy that property,’ he said.
‘The biggest problem is parking. Everyone has two cars and despite each property having a single garage, people get blocked in because the space is so small.’
However, it is still a significant climb up the property ladder for the couple who have moved out of their £80,000 two-bedroom semi, which they bought last year.

Modest: The front door of the couple's new home in a cul-de-sac in Nottinghamshire, is just a few steps away from that of their neighbors

Very modest: However, it is still a significant climb up the property ladder for the couple who have moved out of their £80,000 two-bedroom semi, which they bought last year

The pebble-dashed former council house is in the same area as their new home near Nottingham.
Most properties aimed at the super-rich are equipped with indoor cinemas, heated swimming pools and tennis courts.
But on the estate agent’s website, the best they can boast for the couple’s new property is that it has a working thermostat, an ‘eye-level’ cooker – and a heated towel rail.
Although the home is advertised as having four bedrooms, neighbours said the third bedroom is very small and the fourth is little more than a box-room.

Staying grounded: Since their big win, the pair have been careful with their money

The couple’s decision to buy such a modest property will have come as a surprise to their friends and family.
After winning their huge windfall, they spoke of building a ‘luxurious’ dream home from scratch.
Mr Topham, a painter and decorator, said he longed to live in the kind of home he had spent years decorating for other people.
‘I have often painted these huge houses and wondered what it would be like to live in one,’ he said at the time. ‘Now I can find out.’
His fiancée Miss Carrington, a supermarket supervisor, added that they were avid watchers of the TV house-building programme Grand Designs and would love to do something similar themselves.
Last night a friend said they had since changed their mind about moving into a fancy property.
‘It may seem strange but they just wanted to move into something close to family and friends which was a bit of an upgrade on what they had,’ the friend said.

Flash: The couple have been seen out in their new car - a brand new Jaguar XK 2-Door Coupe worth around £70,000

The friend added that the couple had had a break-in after their win was announced and, as a result, had become wary of moving anywhere too ostentatious.
‘They know some of the people on this road and it is important to them that people locally will be looking out for them,’ the friend added.
The couple – who plan to marry this autumn – still planned to buy ‘a huge plot of land’ one day and build their dream home, but were in no hurry, the friend said.
But they have clearly been less than shy about splashing their cash in other ways, judging by the brand new Jaguar XK 2-Door Coupe worth around £70,000, and a £28,000 Range Rover Evoque parked on their new driveway.