Shaun Davis, a businessman based in Dubai who reported earning £2.5 million last year, has built a lucrative enterprise by providing housing for vulnerable groups in England and Wales, including homeless individuals, addicts, and victims of domestic abuse. Davis co-manages the High Performance Academy, a mentorship program that charges up to £6,000 annually for training on how to develop profitable social housing ventures.
During one session observed by reporters, Davis’s colleague Luigi Newton promoted the financial benefits of their model, illustrating their success with images of luxury lifestyles and explaining their business approach. Newton described leasing properties to social housing providers, who handle tenant care and property management, while landlords receive payments from local councils without direct involvement. “We’ve got zero management costs and zero management headaches,” Newton said, adding that the arrangement allows landlords to receive regular payments “hands off.”
Supported accommodation, the segment in which Davis operates, serves around 200,000 people across England and Wales—roughly equivalent to a city the size of York. This form of housing is specifically aimed at vulnerable populations such as drug addicts, domestic abuse survivors, ex-offenders, and care leavers. The government-funded programme cost taxpayers approximately £1.9 billion in the past year, marking a 14 percent increase from the previous year.
Councils typically pay housing providers an average of £1,250 per month to house a single tenant, with costs rising to about £1,650 monthly in London. Unlike other housing benefits, supported accommodation falls outside usual cost caps due to the additional care required for residents. This has made it a profitable model for some landlords who can charge local authorities what they are willing to pay.
Davis explained that even without owning properties, the model can be highly profitable. He contrasted earnings from a six-bedroom house rented privately at £1,250 per month to the same property divided into “supported” rooms, which could generate £4,080 monthly in council payments.
Davis also founded Erban Homes, a community interest company registered in Birmingham, a city with the highest concentration of such properties and where local authorities spent £400 million on supported housing last year. Despite concerns related to safeguarding, policies, and management, which led to Erban Homes being removed from the city’s recommended provider list, the company continues to operate legally.
The government stated it is investigating Erban Homes. Both Newton and Davis denied any wrongdoing by themselves or their academy, emphasizing that their activities are lawful and that they adhere to legal and regulatory standards.