Aspire Accommodation

01/04/2021

**Sale completed!!**
Well it's been a long time coming but I'm really pleased to say that the Cowling house sale has now completed.
This property was bought with SSAS funds, renovated with the help of an investor loan and caused many an issue, but been a massive learning experience too. Many thanks to those that have helped with this project.
Onwards and upwards now, with some of the funds from this sale being used for the purchase of 2 houses that will be leased to a charity for supported accommodation.

Also, I'm very pleased to say I'll be hosting a monthly SSAS event in Leeds, starting on 22nd July. If you have a SSAS, are thinking of getting one, or just want to lean what can be facilitated by SSAS, please keep your eyes peeled for more info on the events.

16/07/2020

Massive update on the cowling project...

Hello all...it's been a long time since my last post. Not to say that it's been boring...lots going on.
Anyway, massive update on the cowling project as I said.
A big week this week (mid July) as we've completed the sale of the 2 bed house (the one I haven't done anything with) and that is being renovated by the new owner (Ty). This means I can repay the investor that funded the refurb on the property that was the shop and flat (check out some earlier videos and posts if you have no idea what I'm talking about here).

Plus, the refurb (conversion really) is now complete. The shop and flat are now a 2 bed house and will be on the market on Monday.
I've given more detail in the video below and also included some before & after photos, because frankly I think the transformation is a big one.
I have to apologise for my lockdown hair in the video...really need to sort that.
Anyway, this was purchased with my own SSAS pension funds and will generate something like 30% return on the money invested. I'm pretty pleased with that. Happy to chat about what we did here if anyone has questions.
Big thanks to Danial Salvato and team for getting this finished so eloquently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RFIFnmfOsM&list=PLdv9hUWjKHyq48ZQvz4SAR6lzlQWgb7Kp

13/02/2020

Another victory for persistence...
We have finally got the water connected at Cowling.
After around 14 weeks of trying we managed to get Yorkshire Water and Morrison Utilities to agree who is responsible for what and get the job done.
Another step closer to getting this property, which has been empty for in excess of 10 years, on the market and providing a great home for someone to love.

Keep going guys...

07/02/2020

Planning approved!
Some of you may remember, way back almost 2 years ago (though it feels like it was just after the earth cooled and the dinosaurs roamed the earth), I applied for planning permission on a plot of land we'd purchased.
We have finally had that approval today. Planning for 2 x 3 bed semi-detached houses.
Another story of persistence here. Gotta keep on keeping on. Talk to people, work out a way forward.

So another tick on the good start to 2020..more coming too so watch this space.

Creating homes, improving lives.

24/01/2020

Completion!!! At last.
Wow, that took some doing but I'm very happy to say we've completed on the commercial building in Bradford...after around 5 months of discussion about funding and legal wrangling we've finally got there.
This was bought into an SPV using funds from my SSAS combined with a mortgage. This structure allows me to draw an income from the property rather than the rental going to the SSAS.

13/12/2019

Cowling mid-December update.
I've not been to site for a couple of weeks but our amazing builder has been sending me some picture on WhatsApp.
Here are some 'before & during' (as opposed to before and after) pictures.
There's the original staircase which was hiding behind a wall, taking up loads of space. We've removed the stone steps, which were an integral part of the building structure, by cutting them away. We've also relocated the cellar steps to under the new staircase. This has freed loads of additional space for the kitchen area...maybe for use as a dining area.
Then there's the old staircase which we've removed, ready to reinstate the kitchen window (currently bricked-up) and fit out the kitchen.
There's the new staircase with the new cellar access below.
Lastly there's the bathroom, which has just had the bath fitted and pipes etc are ready for the shower and extractor, plus the toilet.

11/12/2019

Great news...the 'change of use' planning has now been approved for the Keighley project. 7 weeks start to finish.

So full steam ahead with the downstairs changes which will transform what was a very tired building into a great family home.
A new gas meter is being fitted tomorrow...so we can get the boiler and central heating sorted.
Still awaiting a quote for a water connection from Yorkshire Water. It's like pulling teeth...5 weeks now, and it means we cannot complete the partition walls upstairs because we haven't proved the plumbing yet.

All in all it's a good end to the year...and we're starting the new year by buying an industrial estate...so look out for the photos and progress on that too.

02/12/2019

I've not done an update on the Keighley project for a while so here it is.

Great progress being made and the builder coming up with some epic wins for us. It's key to have a good team.

I'm at Nottingham SSAS launch with Kal Kandola on Tuesday 3rd and hoping to have some discussions with people there about our pipeline projects.

If you're there come and say 'hi' to me.

Created with Movavi Video Editor https://www.movavi.com/videoeditor/?c=ve14

22/10/2019

Another visit to the Cowling house...we're 4 or 5 days work into this now and got most of the partition walls in upstairs.
Plasterboard is being purchased tonight ready to start boarding tomorrow.
Some work to do on the consumer unit ready for the first fix electrics later this week once one side of the walls are boarded.
First fix plumbing will go in the bathroom later this week too.

Away from the house, the planning application was submitted last Thursday so hopefully we can get some progress on that too, then we can get downstairs moving forward too.