Samuel Leeds Challenges Property Training Industry with Transparent, All-Inclusive Academy

In recent years, property education has exploded into one of the UK’s fastest-growing training sectors, promising ordinary people the chance to build wealth through buy-to-let, lease options, and development deals. Yet beneath the glossy marketing, a darker picture has emerged. Thousands of students claim they have handed over tens of thousands of pounds only to receive limited support, high-pressure upselling, and little genuine help in completing deals. Names repeatedly mentioned in complaints include Progressive Property, Touchstone Education, and Assets for Life, where former students report paying between £15,000 and £45,000 for mentorship packages, often followed by extra charges for networking events, “elite” masterminds, or access to so-called investment opportunities.

Into this landscape steps property entrepreneur Samuel Leeds, who says he launched the Samuel Leeds Academy precisely because he kept hearing the same horror stories from disillusioned attendees of rival courses. Rather than replicate the model he criticises, Leeds has built what he describes as a deliberately transparent, all-inclusive alternative designed to remove the barriers and hidden costs that plague the industry.

At the heart of the academy is a single, upfront membership fee of £11,997 – a price clearly displayed on the website with no asterisks or “contact for details” disclaimers. For that one payment, members receive unlimited one-to-one mentoring from experienced property professionals, direct access to a panel of solicitors, accountants, mortgage brokers, and weekly live mastermind sessions. The academy also runs more than 40 local networking groups across the UK, giving members face-to-face contact with active investors in their region.

Independent research commissioned from polling firm Survation found that 86 per cent of Samuel Leeds Academy members completed at least one property deal within their first twelve months, a statistic Leeds attributes to the depth and continuity of coaching rather than one-off weekend seminars. “Other companies sell a course and then disappear until they want to upsell you the next level,” he says. “We don’t do upsells. Once you’re in, you have unlimited access to the team for as long as you need it.”

Perhaps the most unusual element of the academy model is the reinvestment of profits directly into students’ success. Through Samuel Leeds Finance, a Sharia-compliant funding arm, Leeds claims to have loaned more than £11 million of his own capital to academy members to help them secure or refurbish their first investment properties. Unlike traditional bridging lenders that charge high interest and fees, these loans are structured to align the academy’s success with that of its students.

The academy also operates Deal Connect, an internal platform that allows members to bring their own deals to a database of verified cash-rich investors. Students who source properties under market value can sell the deal on to these investors for a fee, often recouping their entire £11,997 membership cost within months of joining.

Leeds has long maintained a large free-education channel on YouTube and other social platforms, where his main Samuel Leeds account now has over half a million subscribers. Hundreds of hours of training, from lease-option agreements to rent-to-rent strategies, are available at no cost. “The free content is enough for many people to get started,” Leeds explains. “The academy is for those who want hand-holding, direct mentoring, and the full support network to scale quickly.”

Critics of the property-education sector often point to opaque pricing and aggressive sales tactics at free or low-cost seminars that funnel attendees into expensive mentorship programmes. Leeds says his approach is the antidote: every element of the academy pricing, what’s included, success metrics, and even refund terms, is published openly online.

Whether the Samuel Leeds Academy will prove to be the turning point the industry needs remains to be seen, but its founder is unequivocal about his mission. “Too many people have been burnt by companies that prioritise profit over people,” he says. “We’re putting honesty, accountability, and genuine opportunity back at the centre of property education in the UK.”

As the sector continues to grow and attract scrutiny, Leeds’ model of transparency, unlimited support, and profit reinvestment offers a markedly different path for aspiring property investors willing to leap.