As long term readers will be well aware, we have over the years at PIN magazine taken a somewhat critical stance against excessive marketing hype from the 'spin merchants' selling overpriced property and high cost, out-of-date property education programmes.

However investing in yourself before you actually invest in property can certainly pay dividends if you adopt the right approach, as the interview on page 24 with Niraj Shah illustrates. In less than three years he has replaced his previous 'day job' income and is in the process of creating long term wealth with a mix of property related activities.

It's a fact that the 'business' of property investment is certainly more competitive today than it was almost twenty years ago prior to the advent of buy-to-let mortgages in 1996, which genuinely revolutionised the supply and quality of accommodation of property in much of the Private Rental Sector.