Former physiotherapist Hannah Wiggins juggles motherhood with running a serviced accommodation business, controlling 14 properties worth £6m. She overcame a personal tragedy to build the portfolio after joining the Samuel Leeds Academy to learn the ropes.
‘You get addicted to the learning – the energy’
Hannah was a physiotherapist in the NHS for just under two years before she had her first son. She worked on the wards, earning ‘a pittance,’ and so decided she needed a change.
Property seemed to be an excellent proposition. As Hannah puts it: “Everybody knows that property is a secure and good investment.”
She and her husband were in the fortunate position of having a big pot of cash to invest. They used it to acquire two buy-to-let apartments during the pandemic.
The plan was to turn them into serviced accommodation and live off the income. The couple had already done some renovations together and developed a passion for real estate.
Hannah converted one of the flats into furnished accommodation and rented it out on a nightly basis, managing it herself.
By this point she had a three-month-old son in tow and took him to work with her. “I was doing the cleaning, the linen. My boy was in a carrier. I was vacuuming. I was running around for the guests and making sure they had the best experience.”
It worked well for a while until it emerged there was a head lease restriction which prohibited the use of the flat for short stays.
“Overnight my business went from replacing my physiotherapist wage with one property to having to stop,” recalls Hannah.
Worse was to come. The next day Hannah, who was expecting their second child at the time, had a miscarriage and suffered a breakdown. It was a difficult time for her family, she says, but with determination she recovered.
“I thought to myself, I’ve got to pick myself up. I’ve got to keep going and if those properties can’t work, we need to find other people’s properties that are going to work for us.”
Hannah had no formal training in property and so enrolled on Samuel Leeds’ £1 crash course which set her on the path to becoming a full-time property entrepreneur.
“Like everybody says, you just get addicted to the learning – the energy – and I said I’ve got to do this. I can’t let one thing stop me. I need something for me to drive forward.”
‘Within two weeks I secured my first rent-to-serviced accommodation deal’
Hannah became a member of the academy in October 2023 and hit the ground running. She completed the online training in rent-to-rents, serviced accommodation and HMOs. Then it was a case of hitting the phones.
“Within two weeks of me hammering the phones I managed to secure my first rent-to-serviced accommodation deal.”
The Birmingham businesswoman admits it took her by surprise that the owner had entrusted his house to her. “I was shocked that a landlord had trusted me to do it, but I did give him the reassurance. We built a great relationship, and it was fantastic.
“As soon as we launched it, it was fully booked. The average occupancy rates were 90 to 95 per cent on short stays.
“I thought this is it. It was worth the investment. I had a lot of support from the mentors on the academy with it being my first one.”
She paid the landlord a guaranteed rent of £1,400 a month, with bills of around £500 to meet on top of that.
“We were making anything between £1,500 to £1,700 profit a month. It was just outside Birmingham in one of the suburbs.”
With the nearby National Exhibition Centre holding frequent events, Hannah realised she could attract bookings from two different markets. There was a demand for accommodation from contractors in the week and at weekends it could be sold to visitors at a higher rate.
She put a lot of effort into the staging, adding bright colours and media walls, before advertising it for medium and short stays on Airbnb. It flourished because it suited both markets.
As her brand was built on Instagram, she has been inundated with direct bookings.
“Eighty-six per cent of our bookings across the portfolio are direct now which is incredible. I didn’t ever expect it.”
From starting out with two buy-to-lets, and a house abroad, the size of her estate has more than quadrupled.
“We have four properties [including] two buy-to-lets, one serviced accommodation property in St Ives in Cornwall and we’ve recently launched a five-bedroom house 20 minutes from Alicante in Spain as a serviced accommodation property.”
She also has six rent-to-rents, in addition to four rent-to-rents with a business partner, adding up to 14 properties under her control.
Hannah and her husband bought the house in Spain just before she joined the academy. It has taken them around 18 months to do it up as they took on the work themselves.
Life was hectic. They were flying back and forth, with their parents helping them, and trying to build a rent-to-rent business on the side with a young child to care for too.
Hannah’s schedule continues to be busy. In 2025, she gave birth to another son. She has learnt to cope with a lack of sleep.
“I find myself working into the night, so when the kids are asleep I’m up till two or three in the morning when I’ve got the time to push on with the business.”
It takes her about two hours a day to run it, which might not seem a lot, she says, but when juggling a young family and day-to-day chores it can be overwhelming.
To reduce her load, she has taken on a virtual assistant from the Philippines to take over the bookkeeping, as well as guest communications, invoicing and other administrative tasks.
It will help Hannah to focus on new projects, while allowing her to spend more time with her two children, Tommy and Freddy.
Learning to outsource some of the work involved with running her company, Creative Living, will be her biggest challenge yet as a ‘perfectionist.’
One of the projects Hannah is hoping to get over the line entails turning a five-bedroom house in Solihull into another SA to meet the demand from contractors.
The entrepreneur and her business partner are trying to negotiate a lease option agreement which would allow them to rent out the place for five years and then buy it.
Hannah confesses to having fallen in love with it, even though as an investor her training tells her to use her head rather than her heart when looking at the formulas.
“It’s like going back in time. It’s got a green bathroom. There are green carpets. Every wall is covered with flowery wallpaper. Everything is like going into your grandma’s house. The house has just got so much potential. You can extend. You can completely renovate it. The living room and garage are huge.”
Hannah is keeping her fingers crossed that the deal goes through as she cannot wait to rip the wallpaper off and get going.
By spending £5,000 to £8,000 on putting in a new bathroom, removing the wallpaper and replacing the carpets, she is confident of achieving an end value of at least £1m.
Valued at £740,000 in its current state, it lies in a ‘golden triangle’ where properties are worth 20 per cent more than the surrounding areas, the mother-of-two points out.
Her business partner, Dave Atkins, signed up to the academy after seeing Hannah do well. They used to work together in the golf industry and have known each other for a long time.
He does a lot of the lead generation, while Hannah enjoys tackling house refurbishments. In less than a year of running their four rent-to-SAs, they have saved about £25,000 to plough into more joint ventures.
Hannah has also thrown herself into running an academy Inner Circle networking group in Birmingham.
“It’s put me into a position of trust. I thrive off the environment. Being a leader is one of the best things I ever did. I can now give back.”
The group hosts regular events, including a summer barbecue and activities at Christmas, with members travelling from as far afield as Shrewsbury, Telford, Manchester and Brighton.
Hannah is also organising a charity golf tournament with Dave’s help. It will be combined with an auction where members can bid to stay in each other’s SAs.
In addition to that, she is planning a networking event in Spain as several academy members now have properties out there. Her own house in Alicante sleeps up to 10 people and has its own pool. Her idea is for them to meet agents and view their individual projects.
Hannah’s son was three months old when she started out and is now three. “That was when I got into property full time. But it’s hard work now I’ve got the little one as well. You have to juggle your time effectively and you need to have a good support network.
“We’ve got grandparents who help us with childcare two to three days a week, but it can be difficult,” she concedes.
Hannah is grateful for the training she has received, along with the unlimited mentoring and access to a network which has allowed her to bounce ideas off others.
“The people you talk to every day. The position I’ve put myself in with the Inner Circle. There’s nothing better. I would never be where I am now without the Samuel Leeds Academy.”
Part of her desire to give back has seen her crew at crash courses as a volunteer. She has also spoken about her entrepreneurial journey to an audience of 300 aspiring investors.
“I would have hidden away from that before, but the academy changes your mindset, and that development is indescribable. It was a milestone for me, and I felt honoured.”
Hannah believes women can do whatever they want, regardless of being a mother, with the right drive and support.
“We grow life. We can nourish it for however many years. I breastfed my son for two years and I still smashed the business. We are powerhouses and we should never forget that.”
She concludes: “I love working in property. I love waking up every day with my kids. I love having that time freedom.
“I couldn’t imagine going back to work and someone telling me when I can have holidays. The flexibility, the drive, the ambition is who I am and being an entrepreneur suits it.”
Hannah’s tips
- Never ever give up on your dreams. We live in an age where information is at our fingertips. If you want to do it, you can do it.
- Comparison kills. You need to focus on your own journey. Figure out what you want from your life and work towards it.
- Social media is a powerful tool in business. If you can get hot on socials, you’re going to fly even more.
- (For mums) Always believe in yourself and remember who you were before you had children.
- Find time for yourself. Running your own business is hard but spending the rest of your life being unhappy in a job is harder.
- Miscarriage is very common. It’s not the end of the world. You can still be a mum and make a great life for yourself.
Samuel Leed’s verdict
“What Hannah has achieved in such a short time is impressive and she is modest with it. Now that she has employed someone to do the admin, she can move to the next stage which is to concentrate on strategy and building her wealth.
“She is also important to our community, both as a valued Inner Circle leader and inspiring others to become financially independent through property.”
