House of the Year

Competition Entry Rules

1. Entry is open to all Northern Ireland residents aged 18 or over at the time entry closes. BBC employees and persons connected to the competition and their close relatives are not eligible to enter.
2. All entrants are required to be the registered owner of the property. If you would like to nominate someone else’s house, the registered owner of the property must provide their written consent to the entry. The BBC reserves the right to require proof of ownership and/or relevant consents.
3. The house must, throughout the competition, be used as a residential home and not be run as a commercial enterprise i.e. holiday home, bed and breakfast or show home.
4. Entries should be received before midnight on May 31st 2010 by either:
   1. Completing and submitting the online form
   2. Or writing to:
      House of the Year Competition
      BBC Broadcasting House
      Belfast
      BT2 8HQ
5. Entries should contain the following information;
   1. The homeowner’s name
   2. Address
   3. Contact details
   4. Six to eight photographs of the home entered (containing at least two exterior shots)
   5. Confirmation that you have obtained the homeowner's written consent
6. The photographs submitted must not feature any persons and will not be returned.
7. Entrants, by entering, declare that the photos are current and they have permission to allow the BBC to use of the photos in the series and accompanying publicity as required.
8. No entries will be accepted after the closing date.
9. Entries will be shortlisted, judged and scored on categories such as architectural integrity, interior design, use of space, circulation, layout, natural light, lighting, external merit and overall ambience & beauty by the panel. During the final, environmental credentials will also be taken into consideration.
10. A shortlist will be chosen by the production team. Then 3 entrants from each of the 6 counties will be chosen by a panel of 3 independent industry experts. The 18 selected entrants representing the 6 counties will go through to the semi-finals. The semi-finals will consist of 6 programmes each consisting of the 3 selected entrants for each county
11. Entrants should take care in selecting which photos to submit and in filling in the entry form as only this information will be used to select the 18 entries going through to the semi-finals. There is further guidance on what to include in taking and selecting photographs available.
12. The entry with the highest score in each semi-final programme will progress to the final where an overall winner will be selected by the panel. In the event of a tie the head judge will have the deciding vote.
13. The BBC’s selection of entrants is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
14. The BBC will recognise the location of entrants' homes by the Post Office determination
15. Entrants must agree to allow BBC production, the presenter and judging panel entry to their home to film and interview them.
16. Entrants should be available for filming between August and September 2010. The production team will contact the entries selected for the programmes with exact dates of filming.
17. The final show will be recorded late 2010/early 2011 and the homeowners at the time the entry was made must be the same when the final is recorded and broadcast. If the house changes ownership, the BBC reserves the right to disqualify that entry and offer the runner-up in that semi-final the place in the final.
18. The winner announced in the Final show will receive the title of BBC Northern Ireland ‘House of the Year’ and a Trophy. There will also be two runner-up trophies awarded.
19. The panel will award an ‘Individual Merit Award’ to one of the 18 selected entries across the 6 counties. This award will be made to the entrant/s the judges feel have excelled in their personal efforts to achieve their dream home. The criteria used is wide and will include amongst other things achieving the results despite i.e. budgetary constraints, limited help with labour or design or making great personal sacrifices to achieve their dream home. The Producers may ask for proof to back up any claims.
20. The awards are for your personal use only and cannot be used in connection with any promotions, marketing, advertising or future sales or rentals of the property.
21. Contestants must agree to take part in any post competition publicity if required.
22. For the entries selected for the 6 programmes, all entrants will be required to assign to the BBC the complete copyright and all other rights for all purposes (incl. use in all media now known or which may hereafter become known) in their contribution for the full period of copyright and any extensions, revivals or renewals thereof.
23. For the entries selected for the 6 programs, entrants will grant the BBC the unlimited right to edit, copy, add to, take from, adapt or translate their contributions. The entrants also waive irrevocably any “moral rights” they may have under the laws of any jurisdiction.
24. Contributions, as per the above sections, cover all contributions made by the entrants in connection with the production of the program including but not limited to the entrant’s interview (incl. rehearsals) and spoken, written and artistic materials (incl. audio and video recordings thereof) provided by the participant.
25. The BBC reserves the right to
    1. cancel or adapt the competition
    2. vary or change the prizes
    3. disqualify any entrant who breaches the rules or who commits a fraud
    at any stage, if in their opinion it is deemed necessary or if circumstances arise outside its control.
26. The BBC will only use personal details for the purposes of administering this competition, and will not publish them or provide them to anyone without permission. You can read more about the BBC Privacy Policy.
27. The programme accords with the BBC’s Code of Conduct for Competitions and Voting, details of which can be found on the BBC’S Standards and Guidelines website.
28. The promoter of the competition is BBC and is subject to the law of Northern Ireland.
29. Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and agree to be bound by them by entering the competition.
30. The BBC will only use personal details for the purposes of administering this competition, and will not publish them or provide them to anyone without permission. You can read more about the BBC Privacy Policy