From the Prison System to Property: How I’m Creating Homes for the People Who Need Them Most
I didn’t set out to become a housing expert. Growing up, I was fascinated by human behaviour and wanted to be a forensic profiler. After earning my degree in Psychology and a Masters in Forensic Psychology, I took the first job I could find in a prison which was working for a resettlement housing charity.
Over the next few years, I worked my way up from volunteer to Contracts Manager, overseeing services across whole regions. But while I was proud of my career, I found myself constantly battling bureaucracy and struggling to make meaningful change from inside the system.
Every day I had prisoners shouting at me that they were back inside because they were released with nowhere to go. And while their frustration was misdirected, they weren’t wrong. The system was broken. Councils lacked schemes or funding, landlords wouldn’t take a chance on someone with a record, and there simply weren’t enough appropriate housing options available.
Eventually, I realised that I could do more on the outside.
Building a Business That Fills the Gaps
I started High Demand Properties with a mission: We believe every person should have a safe and affordable place to call home. Our vision is to provide housing options to people with limited choices, whether that’s due to socioeconomic status, disability, or geography. We’re proactive, solution-focused, and committed to meeting local demand by collaborating with investors, landlords, and councils alike.
To replace my income quickly, I began with rent-to-rent HMOs. Funnily enough I’d actually done this informally at university. I lived in a HMO and subletted the rooms with the landlord’s permission, as it made his investment even easier. I managed the whole thing myself, including repairs, and although rent-to-HMO didn’t have a name back then, I knew it worked.
With my previous experience, I knew four good HMOs would match my salary. At first, I lacked focus. I tried to do every strategy, flips, sourcing, SA management, but once I streamlined my efforts, I secured four HMOs in quick succession and replaced my income within 10 months. Still, I held off leaving the prison service, I had young children, a stable income, and an identity built around my public sector role. It took two years of stabilising and systemising my business before I made the leap.
From Strategy to Impact
Since then, my business has evolved into a blend of rent-to-rent HMOs, serviced accommodation, deal packaging, coaching, and mentoring. I previously ran PPN Humberside networking event and host a podcast. Most recently, I’ve partnered with other investors Luke and Ryan to expand into flipping and portfolio building, all while working closely with councils to provide the kind of housing that’s desperately needed.
But my true passion has always been social impact, particularly helping those who fall through the cracks. As someone who spent over a decade in prisons and probation, I know the challenges ex-offenders face when trying to reintegrate into society. Many of them are low-risk, low-level offenders, they are people with driving convictions, for example, but landlords often see only the criminal label.
The reality is, ex-prisoners often have more support than the average tenant. Probation officers, support workers, housing advisors, and charities all want them to succeed. And when you combine that with the right knowledge of how to navigate benefits, secure direct payments, and assess risk - you can create a sustainable, low-void, socially responsible model that works for landlords and tenants alike.
How We Make It Work
My company houses a wide range of people from overseas nurses and students to high-earning professionals and individuals on benefits. Most property people will tell you to pick one tenant demographic per house, but I’ve found the opposite can work if you match based on personality, shift patterns, and house dynamics, not just income.
When we receive a referral, whether from a prison resettlement team, council, or charity, we carry out a full assessment. I’ve managed housing contracts at a national level, so I know what questions to ask and what risk looks like. If someone isn’t suitable, I’ll refer them elsewhere or offer guidance to their support workers. But if they are, we work with them to get funding in place, explain expectations, and help them settle.
For example, in one of our properties we’ve housed an ex-prisoner, two overseas nurses, and a self-employed professional all under one roof. It works because we take the time to manage expectations and build rapport and ensure personalities will work together in one house. We’ve also trained our team to deal with benefits systems and understand how to flag potential issues early.
What Other Investors Need to Know
The main barrier for most landlords and investors is fear of the unknown. They don’t understand the benefits system, how to secure direct payments, or how to assess the risks properly. Once you learn that, everything becomes more manageable. I always advise investors to start by building relationships with local housing teams, support charities, and even probation officers. Get a feel for what the demand actually is, and where.
Be realistic. Buying a rundown house on a rundown street and expecting high-paying tenants just isn’t going to work. Some postcodes are saturated with poor HMOs or have reputational issues and councils won’t house people there. Understand the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for your area and build around those. Some of my tenants receive over £2,000 a month in support, so paying £500–£700 in rent isn’t the issue, it’s matching the right person with the right home in the right location.
If you’re interested in working with vulnerable groups, remember this: they’re people first. Many just need a second chance. And if you put in the effort to understand the system, there’s opportunity to create both impact and income.
Lessons Learned
If I were starting again, I’d narrow my focus. While I’ve mastered time management and built multiple income streams, I often prioritise others’ needs over my own passion for development. Lettings always seems to come first, even though I thrive on transforming houses and building things from the ground up.
So if I had a do-over, I’d stick with rent-to-HMO and developments, and build a portfolio that I could let to others who want to make an impact too.
What’s Next?
Right now, I’m streamlining. That means consolidating businesses and focusing on development and portfolio building. My goal is to create quality homes that meet real demand and products that can be used by councils, charities, and investors who want to serve vulnerable clients without the guesswork.
We’re not expanding for expansion’s sake. We’re growing with purpose so that every property we deliver opens up another door for someone who needs it most.
To scale this vision, we’re actively raising private finance from investors who want to make a difference while achieving strong, secured returns. Whether it’s supporting a refurbishment, helping us acquire our next project, or funding long-term social housing solutions, we’re looking to partner with people who share our values and see the power of property to change lives.
