I hope you had a nice Christmas and are all set for 2018? I love this time of year because it’s when many people outline their goals and ambitions for the year ahead. In this edition of the magazine I interview the winner of ‘New Investor of the Year’ and chart her success along with some of her challenges. Her story (on page 20) demonstrates that in property not everything goes to plan, in fact it rarely does.

Turning to property, this month we have hit a few challenges in the road. Our latest HMO is finished and looking fab, however, we have had our planning application to change the use of the property rejected. This is my first rejection from planning and I am sure it won’t be my last. On the upside this is giving me the opportunity to appeal the decision. The appeals process in itself is something I haven’t been through before and one I am keen to know more about. So although it is frustrating in the short-term I am looking forward to following this through. One thing I always insist on is multiple exits so despite planning being rejected I am still able to let the property to six people, which makes it a profitable property in itself. If we are able to get planning for the seventh room then it will be the cherry on top. It’s a long process from here and I will keep you updated.