15:27 PM, 10th February 2025, About 10 hours ago
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From meeting at university to building a property business together — all while managing life with their one-year-old!
Jake Colwill and Lucy Davies’s journey into the property world has seen them tackle tricky renovations and investment risks.
Their hard work has now earned them HMO Property Investor of the Year at the Property Investors Awards.
Jake and Lucy explain that they first met at the University of Cardiff, with their property journeys beginning from different angles.
Jake tells Property118: “I’ve always had an interest in property, as my Dad ran a kitchen business down in Cornwall where I grew up.
“I was spending most of my time working for him doing home improvements, so I’ve always been around property renovation.”
Lucy explains how she inherited a property at a young age: “Not long after Jake and I met, I had a bit of a predicament about what to do with this property.
“The property is located by the coast in a popular tourist destination. I decided to convert it into two Airbnbs, which Jake helped me with.”
She adds: “We employed his dad’s kitchen business, and they installed two brand-new kitchens. Myself and Jake did a lot of the renovation work, including painting and decorating.
“We let out the property as two Airbnbs, which I still run and manage now.”
This was back in 2014, and Jake explains how it was a steep learning curve.
“It was a bit of a baptism of fire as we didn’t know much about property. We hadn’t had any formal education, and I don’t think Airbnbs were that popular as a strategy back then,” Jake says.
“We just thought it was a great location, and Lucy didn’t want to sell it. Letting it out as an Airbnb just seemed like a common-sense decision.”
Lucy explains that the couple then moved on to buying and selling their own properties,
She says: “We chose quite run-down properties, renovated them while living in them, and then sold them for a profit. We reinvested that profit into investment properties, starting with buy to lets — mainly flats.”
The couple then bought a flat and worked their way up the corporate ladder together, all while renovating their properties alongside their day jobs.
Jake and Lucy explain how they were inspired to set up their own property business, Innova Property, in 2018.
Jake says: “We always knew from early on; property was the career path we wanted to pursue.
“We wanted to run it like a professional business, and we set up our limited company in 2018.”
Jake explains the decision to invest in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
Jake says: “We lived in HMOs when we were studying in Cardiff and loved living in shared housing. We thought it was great living with friends and really enjoyed the social aspect of it. There’s also a huge demand for HMOs.
“When we were living in these HMOs, we did the maths, adding up what we were paying the landlord every month, and we knew he had other properties.
“We were a bit naïve at the time, as we didn’t factor in mortgage costs, maintenance and insurance. We were just looking at the gross rent we were paying and thinking, ‘his is a good industry to be in.’”
Lucy adds: “At the same time, we were following a few key influencers on Instagram who were delivering high-end HMOs, and we were inspired by the types of interiors they were providing. We both said, ‘we really want to do something like that.’”
Since deciding to invest in HMOs, the couple have worked on a variety of high-end refurbs.
Jake explains: “A few of the projects we’ve done recently we installed solar panels on the roofs, and it means we can push the boat out and have fun with the interiors and ultimately as the rental yields are higher you can push the capital values up.”
However, investing in HMOs does come with challenges.
Lucy explains: “For us, it’s the perception of HMOs. Firstly, when you are buying a property a lot of the neighbourhoods and vendors don’t always welcome HMO investors, there’s a negative connotation.
“It creates a barrier especially when we put in planning applications because we can receive quite a lot of objections.
“However, we try really hard to change people’s perception of HMOs and we closely manage every element of the build and design to make sure it’s suitable for the amount of housemates that are going to be there.
“We do all the tenant management ourselves and have that complete control. We make sure our shared houses are places people want to call home.”
Jake and Lucy say they have changed the perception of HMOs in those areas and hope to do more in the future.
Working together as a couple had its challenges to start, but Jake and Lucy explain how found their rhythm.
Lucy tells Property118: “We do enjoy working together. I think it was a lot more challenging at the beginning when we were finding our own roles.
“We’re both quite driven and passionate, so at times there may have been some butting heads over whose responsibility was what or having different ideas on how to approach something.
“As time went on and we evolved, we became more responsible for areas of the business. I think we’ve evolved to work quite cohesively and work together well.”
Jake adds working together as a couple has its unique challenges.
“You have less of a filter when you are dealing with your life partner and you don’t hold back with your responses,” he explains.
“At times we’ve definitely had differing views, but we always meet up somewhere in the middle which is best for the business.”
Lucy adds: “We always say that the best decisions we make are the ones that have both of our involvement.”
Jake and Lucy admit they don’t get much downtime, as they talk about property 24-7, and now have their one-year-old son.
Lucy says: “Now we have a one-year-old in the mix, it certainly has its challenges. When our son was younger, I took a bit of time out of the business and Jake took a lead role but I’m now getting back into it.
“However, at the beginning, we did absolutely everything when it came to the business and we were a two-man band but now we have so much support and skill set around us in our team, it makes life a little bit easier.”
Jake adds: “We just coordinate everyone around us. We’re not doing any more manual labour on site. We’ve got our virtual assistant who helps with the lettings, and the main contractors handle everything on site.
“A lot of it is about being the conductor of the orchestra.”
Through their hard work, Jake and Lucy have won HMO Property Investor of the Year, and they encourage others to apply for the Property Investor Awards.
Lucy says: “I think, for us, it’s amazing recognition for all the hard work we’ve done and the standards we’ve achieved with some of our properties.
“It also really helps to go with our credibility, working with private investors or other developers.”
Jake says: “It’s really rewarding for people involved in our projects to see the hard work they’ve put in and the support they’ve given us. It gives them a sense of pride knowing they’ve contributed to an award-winning project, whether through investment, the build, or the planning.
“I think for those people, it changes the perception of HMOs and how they can be a positive thing for the local area.”
Lucy adds: “We’ve also been invited to different events as a result of winning the award, we’ve been invited to speak at an event and also on a podcast. It’s nice to get involved with other events that we wouldn’t have had the chance to do beforehand.”
Jake and Lucy share their top tips for aspiring property investors and say the key is having a clear vision and a focused strategy.
Jake says: “Think forward on what you want to achieve, whether that’s 10 or 15 years, figure out what you want your life to look like and then reverse engineer it so you can formulate a strategy to suit your life ambition.
“Once you’ve gone through that process, I’d say focus and niche down. There’s so much content and so many events you can attend, but it’s important not to get too carried away with analysis paralysis. There are countless property strategies out there, so it’s key to focus and narrow your focus.”
Lucy adds networking can be invaluable when an investor first starts on their property journey.
She says: “Getting to meet people who’ve done it before or finding people in your local area can be really valuable. Sometimes, when investing in property, you have to make big and scary decisions, spending a lot of money.
“Your friends and family might say you’re taking too much risk or try to talk you out of it. Speaking to others in the property industry who have gone through it can be really supportive.
“There are always going to be hard moments where things don’t go according to plan but knowing people who’ve been through it before or who’ve faced different challenges in the property world can help keep you on track.”
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