The property developer who has 16 Airbnbs in Manchester – after sleeping in his car so he could rent out his own home

Entrepreneur Corin Craig Jackson is on course for his first million with his burgeoning luxury aparthotel business – after starting by hiring out his own apartment on Airbnb while he slept in his car or sofa-surfed at friends’ houses.

Corin bought his first Manchester city centre apartment for £117,500, straight after graduating from Manchester University, after saving up the £20,000 salary he earned for a placement year during his business degree to use as a deposit.

After buying the two-bed apartment, he set to work giving it a New York loft style makeover, and decided to try testing it out for short term lets on Airbnb seven years ago, when the rental site was in its infancy.

READ MORE:Woman refused bank loan at 22 sets up her own fashion label from kitchen table and is now on course for £1mn

Now he has a portfolio of 16 aparthotel rooms, with another seven in the process of being either purchased – or renovated ready for rental – under his Jacksonheim Boutique brand.

Corin said: “When I first started seven years ago, the first property I listed on Airbnb was my New York Boutique apartment – that was my own home.

“I basically went and slept in my car or sofa surfed at friends’ houses so I could let it out.

“It was only the third apartment listed on Airbnb in Manchester at that time.

“I wasn’t getting anywhere near the prices I’m getting now but it started as a good side earner for me.”

Corin had joined the graduate scheme for a large confectionery business after completing his degree, and as he rose up the ranks in the company, he used his disposable income to start buying other properties which he could upgrade and then put as short-term lets on Airbnb.

“I was using my salary to support mortgage applications, and my income from the apartments to grow,” he said.

“It got to the stage in December 2019 that I was earning more from the apartments than from my six figure salary and so I knew it was time to take the plunge and make that my full time business.”

But, within months of that decision, the global pandemic hit – and the country went into lockdown in March 2020.

Far from being put off from buying more apartments, Corin saw it as an opportunity to further develop his burgeoning brand – even though friends and family thought he was “mad” for doing so.

Since lockdown restrictions eased earlier this year, he has been reaping the rewards with a buoyant letting market, as people escape for “staycation” breaks in the UK amid ongoing uncertainty over foreign travel.

Corin, 30, said: “In March 2020 the market disappeared and everyone told me I was mental but I persevered.

“And now I have a portfolio of 16 properties and 6-7 on the way to completion, there’s rapid growth there, it has been a lockdown success story for us.

“Everyone was saying to pull out, the travelling market is not there, but I was saying ‘look, the market will come back, you told me I was stupid the first time around’.

“And since June, as soon as we came out of lockdown, it went crazy.”

He now has 16 apartments available to book via Airbnb, Booking.com and directly from Jacksonheim Boutique, as well as other property developments underway.

Corin’s original NYC Boutique apartment remains one of his most popular rooms in his Jacksonheim Boutique aparthotel collection of 16 individually styled apartments across Manchester.

Corin says there can be huge sums to be made, especially when big events are happening in Manchester like big football matches or the recent return of Parklife festival – when Airbnb rooms were in such high demand prices inflated to £1,000 a night – up from starting prices at off-peak times from £75 a night.

“The NYC Boutique is pretty much fully booked up until December, every single night. That’s £3,900 gross revenue a month, while the best performing will do about £6,900 a month,” he said.

“Monthly turnover in total is in the region of £60,000 with new additions nearer £70,000 and I’ve no doubt by the end of the year turnover will be hitting a million.”

Corin specialises in luxurious refurbs of the apartments to make them stand out from the ever-growing Airbnb crowds – his most recent transformations are two all-pink themed Boujee Boutique apartments.

“When I started out on Airbnb it was a niche consumer using it, but now it’s used by every man and his dog and is seen as a successful way of booking an alternative to a hotel,” he said.

“As purchasing behaviour has changed it’s become much more accepted.

“When I first told my mum and dad what I was doing they thought I was an idiot but now it has come full circle and they’re using Airbnb for breaks as well.

“That’s how much people’s perceptions of the platform have changed in such a short space of time.

“It started as a side earner, but now I employ 12 people to run the portfolio.”

And he believes that anyone can give Airbnb a go – even if you don’t own your own home.

Corin said: “I’m a big believer that anyone can do it.

“You don’t necessarily have to own a property either, you just have to have permission to sub-let from your landlord.

You could start your own short-term let business from your phone.”

But Corin says he wouldn’t recommend doing what he did by sleeping in your car to do it.

He laughed: “I would never recommend anyone to do that, I’m a bit of a crazy person, I do appreciate not everyone would do that.”

Get the latest headlines to your inbox with our newsletters.