EXCL: The Times Welfare Inquiry goes undercover on the courses promising prospective landlords huge profits by exploiting “desperate” demand to house vulnerable tenants, with @katieotoolee Shaun Davis lives in Dubai, drives a Lamborghini Urus SUV and says that he made £2.5m last year alone. His line of business is housing Britain’s homeless, addicts and domestic abuse victims He now co-runs the High Performance Academy, a mentorship scheme charging up to £6,000 a year for classes on how to build a social housing empire At one session, attended by The Times Welfare Inquiry undercover, his colleague Luigi Newton appeals to prospective entrepreneurs by showing “what property has done for us” — alongside pictures of skyscrapers, expensive meals and white sandy beaches He has just returned from six weeks in Brazil when he explains to his students how he lets his properties out to social housing providers, who care for the tenants and manage the properties. Then they charge the council vast sums and he takes his healthy cut “We’ve got zero management costs and zero management headaches,” Newton says. “They [the council] just pay me every month, and that’s exactly what I want. Hands off. I want to be on the beach sipping cocktails whilst getting paid.” OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SESSION *** One six-bedroom house Davis leases in Wolverhampton would earn him £1,250 from private tenants — but as supported rooms, he says it actually earns him £4,080 *** Davis tells would-be landlords he regrets starting out housing “drug and alcohol tenants”, who he says are a “nightmare” and weren’t “worth it” because of the stress. His “little gem” of advice is to focus on women fleeing domestic abuse. “Here’s the thing, guys: because the domestic violence victim is so grateful for the opportunity. Guess what? They ain’t gonna cause you any issues. They’re gonna keep themselves to themselves. They’re gonna be happy for the opportunity” *** The main appeal - social housing is “a government-backed strategy” that is “recession-proof”. The support of the state makes it both an attractive venture and, critically, low-risk. “It’s not reliant on the economy being strong either,” he said. “So it’s a game-changer for me. I wanted a financially stable strategy, and this is what [social housing] gives me.” *** The government has since said they are “urgently looking into” Erban Homes, the social housing provider in question Full investigation in @thetimes 👇 - The speculators getting rich from the £1.9bn social housing spend thetimes.com/article/7a0dc0d…