InHabit is the exciting new property franchise that focuses on ‘putting people into property’
Fourteen years ago Trevor Brocklebank and his wife Sam bought the UK rights to set up Home Instead Senior Care. Their journey completed the circle when Home Instead Inc acquired the UK organisation four years ago.
Under their tenure, Home Instead won Franchisor of the Year (gold, silver twice and bronze) and Franchisee of the Year. They also won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise and received five-star franchisee satisfaction scores five years in a row.
Revenues across the network exceeded £100,000,000 when they sold. Since selling the business, Trevor spent two years as Chair of the British Franchise Association.
Built on experience
Over the last four years Trevor and Sam have been building a substantial property portfolio. This was managed by a long-term friend of theirs, David Edwards.
David has more than 20 years of property development experience. He has built over 165 new houses, bought and refurbished more than 100 properties and is also highly experienced in raising bank finance, mezzanine funds and private equity.
The more they worked with David, the more they realised there was a tremendous opportunity to franchise his business. In fact, they believe InHabit has the potential to significantly outperform the achievements of Home Instead.
David’s InHabit office, which started trading five years ago, currently manages a property portfolio of around 90 houses on behalf of investors. The investors are making an excellent yield, currently more than seven per cent per annum. It’s also generating a strong income for David as a standalone business.
Built on knowledge
InHabit franchisees undergo a detailed training programme to ensure they can maximise the knowledge and experience David has acquired.
The InHabit team also includes highly experienced franchise experts, who ensure the support, systems and processes that are provided to the franchise network are industry leading. Therefore, while they’re looking for franchisees with an interest in property, no previous experience is required. Laura Harvey-Smith, who’s responsible for recruitment and training, has worked in franchising for approaching 20 years across several leading franchise companies.
She says: “Given the range and breadth of franchise experience in the team, we’re rapidly developing support tools and content that would be the envy of franchisors who have been trading for over a decade.”
Sadie Boundy, Head of Business Transformation, has been working in franchising for 15 years.
She says: “It’s so exciting to be able to bring together the best of all the IT solutions and support activities I have worked with over the years into a new, purpose built organisation.
“Our franchisees are getting the best of both worlds - learning from a hugely experienced property developer and a highly experienced franchising team.”
This view is echoed by Adam Warren, InHabit’s first franchisee, who states: “The training and support to get us started has been fantastic.”
Built for people
InHabit is passionate about putting people into property. Many of the company’s homes are rented by InHabit’s charitable partners, who recognise the unique levels of service and quality of homes InHabit can provide.
Investors appreciate that their investments not only make a good return, but also make a difference. Renting to a charity partner dramatically reduces void periods and provides the confidence that rent will be paid, when many landlords are currently struggling with large rent arrears with private tenants due to COVID.
In the current climate, it’s also important that no property company has a single focus and therefore InHabit will help you develop a unique business plan for your territory and financial targets.
This could include a range of strategies, including sourcing and managing properties for the charities InHabit works with and private tenants, converting properties to HMO (Houses of Multiple Occupancy) and ‘buy to flip’, where you purchase a property to refurbish/convert and sell on for a capital gain.
However, in the current financial climate there’s a huge demand for InHabit’s services from the charities the company works with, which is where most franchisees are likely to see the quickest returns as they seek to establish their business.
Building portfolios for investors
InHabit’s unique investment model means investors can purchase a fully refurbished, tenanted property for an upfront capital cost in the region of £30,000. The rest of the purchase price is funded through a mortgage, which InHabit can assist in arranging.
This means investors are not just high net worth individuals, but anyone with access to this level of funding. The yield they will achieve on this investment is far higher than they can realise with virtually any other type of investment and is backed by the security of owning the property.
While many investors are sourced nationally, franchisees are also taught how to identify and manage investors in their local area.
Building a relationship
Above all else, InHabit is a relationship business. The ability to develop strong relationships with all stakeholders, whether they be tenants, charities, investors, builders or suppliers, is critical. Too many property companies focus on the building, rather than the people involved. It’s the opposite at InHabit, where the people will always come first.
Building your future
InHabit’s mission is to become the most professional, responsible and inclusive property community.
Franchisees can build their own highly successful and profitable business without the need to own any properties personally.
Initially working by themselves, the intention is that, as the business grows, they will build a team around them to manage the sourcing, refurbishment and management of their investors’ property portfolios.
Currently, the charities InHabit
is working with need more houses than InHabit can provide, so in many areas there is a pipeline of tenants and InHabit have investors who are looking for investment opportunities across the UK.
This is an amazing opportunity to join a dynamic property franchise at a hugely exciting time in its journey.
At a glance Inhabit
Established:
2020
Number of franchised outlets:
2
Location of units:
Durham and Nottingham
Investment range:
Franchise £18,000-plus Investor £30,000-plus
Minimum required capital:
£20,000 (franchise)
Contact:
Laura Harvey-Smith Laura.Harvey-Smith@inhabit-property.co.uk inhabit-property.co.uk
