Is it permissible to buy a house by entering a draw and paying non-refundable fees?
Question

                Could you please tell me if buying a property under the following conditions is allowed or not There is a housing scheme in Pakistan where they allocate houses by balloting. They ask for a non refundable processing fee and a down payment. After the balloting if unsuccessful they return the down payment but not the processing fee. If successful you have to pay a further amount to own the property. My personal feeling is this is like gambling, but I need to confirm with you. Can you please explain in detail because I then want to stop many people in my family who are involved in this. If this is not gambling then I to want to buy this property.
Praise be to Allah.Refraining 
    from continuing with this program is the right thing to do. In fact it is 
    obligatory, because entering this draw by paying a non-refundable fee is 
    getting involved in a kind of gambling. The definition of gambling is that 
    into which a person enters by means of risking some money, and he will 
    either lose this money or he will win. 
Based on 
    what you mentioned, it is clear that the one who does not win this draw will 
    lose the fees that he paid; if his name is picked then he will be a winner 
    -- with regard to buying a house. Thus it is clear that getting involved in 
    this program is haraam. 
This program 
    is similar to getting involved in government or private auctions, for which 
    one pays fees in order to participate, and usually what is taken from those 
    who pay admission fees to the auction is much greater than the value of the 
    booklet or brochure that is given to them. The Islamic Fiqh Council has 
    banned paying more than the price of the booklet or brochure which contains 
    the conditions and guidelines for the auction that is planned. We have 
    quoted the text of the statement in the answer to question number 2150, in 
    which it says: According to sharee’ah, there is nothing wrong with charging 
    an entry fee to cover the costs of producing booklets listing regulations, 
    etc., so long as it is not more than the actual cost. 
What we advise you is not to buy a house through this program. 
And Allah knows best.