Set on the Isle of White, Wrafton House is a Grade II listed block of 11 flats, which Olivia Hornby bought for £700,000. While this wasn’t Olivia’s first property investment, it was her first big project. With interest rates rising rapidly soon after she purchased the property, getting to the finish line was obviously a bumpy ride, something that was undoubtedly extra painful for Olivia considering that she was heavily pregnant with twins!
What followed earned Olivia the prestigious title of ‘New Property Investor of the Year’ at the 2024 Property Investor Awards.
I start by asking Olivia how she got involved in property development. “I have got quite a varied background. My first property experience was through my mum. I managed one of her properties, which was a converted workshop that was used as a photography location. That fuelled my desire to do something by myself, so my previous partner and I took on a wreck and converted it, turning it into a beautiful home, and after selling that flip I moved out of London and I knew I had this opportunity to invest in property. I was a single mother at the time and I wanted to find something that could both support me and build some generational wealth at the same time.
“I wanted to keep repeating what I had done in London, and I had also trained in architecture, so I felt that I had the design and creative background for doing these flips. Little did I know that it involves so much more than being able to design and spot great buildings!”
Olivia’s award-winning project is on the Isle of White. She explains: “It is a block of 11 flats in a Grade II listed building and the location is fantastic in Ryde, which is a minutes’ walk to the ferry. I took on the block, partly with the intention of turning it into an apart-hotel, but as the project progressed I realised that that wasn’t the right move.
“I wanted to title split and I refinanced in order to hold as many of the flats as possible, so I could have a mix of selling some and keeping some. It was a mixture of one-beds, two-beds and studio flats, with eight on the freehold and three leaseholds, split by the previous owner, all with owner occupiers.”
