Coming Clean: Samuel Leeds Opens His £20 Million Property Empire to the Public

At London's O2 Cineworld, more than four hundred people took their seats to watch something that has never been done before in the world of British property. The lights dimmed, and on the big screen appeared Samuel Leeds, one of the UK's most talked-about entrepreneurs, about to reveal every property he owns, every title deed, and every deal he has ever done.

The documentary, Coming Clean About My Property Portfolio, lays bare Leeds's entire £20 million portfolio. It includes every success, every mistake, and every lesson learned along the way. The film has since been released on YouTube, where it continues to attract viewers from across the world.

"People said my properties weren't real," Leeds says in the opening minutes. "So I decided to show them."

For three days, he took a group of his students on a tour of his portfolio, stopping at each property to show the paperwork, meet tenants, and explain the story behind every deal. The result is part confession, part masterclass, and part manifesto for transparency in a field that is often criticised for secrecy.

From a £100,000 house to a £20 million portfolio

Leeds bought his first house in 2009 when he was only seventeen. He had just left school with no qualifications and a strong desire to be his own boss. The property cost £100,000 and he turned it into an HMO, which still pays him rent seventeen years later.

From there, the documentary moves through the major stages of his career: his first lease option, his half-million-pound profit on a Buckinghamshire development, the purchase of a castle, and his more recent hotel projects. Each story shows both the reward and the risk.

"I've made millions but I've also lost millions," he tells viewers. "If you're going to teach property, you have to be honest about both."

One of the most striking moments in the film is when he revisits Ribbesford House, the Grade II* listed castle that became his most challenging project. Plagued by planning restrictions and even bat licences, it taught him lessons about resilience and humility that shaped his later success.

Family, faith, and the drive to give back

Away from the spreadsheets and construction sites, Coming Clean shows another side of Samuel Leeds. His wife, Amanda, manages the family's portfolio and appears throughout the film as the quiet force behind the operation.

Family life features heavily. Leeds talks openly about being stabbed at fourteen and how his Christian faith turned that experience into motivation. "What you meant for evil, God meant for good," he says while standing on the same street where it happened.

That faith has driven him to build schools and hospitals in Uganda and to home-educate his own children with a focus on financial literacy. "Legacy isn't about how much money you make," he says in the film. "It's about how many people you impact."

The critics and the turning point

Leeds is no stranger to controversy. Over the years, he has faced media criticism and online trolling. In the film, he recalls advice from American entrepreneur Grant Cardone, who told him to "lean into the hate". That conversation changed how Leeds dealt with the media.

Rather than ignore criticism, he confronted it by creating more content, explaining his business model, and letting the results speak for themselves. Coming Clean is the culmination of that strategy. It shows the good, the bad, and the ugly in full public view.

"This documentary was never about showing off," he explains. "It was about being transparent. If people see the full picture, they can decide for themselves."

Independent proof of success

The numbers also speak loudly. Earlier this year, Survation, a polling company trusted by the BBC, The Telegraph, and leading UK universities, conducted an independent study of Leeds's Property Investors Academy. Survation contacted everyone who had graduated since 2020 and compiled a detailed report on their outcomes.

The results were striking.

• 86% of academy graduates were actively buying or investing in property within twelve months of joining.

• 95% said they would recommend the academy to a friend.

• 43% had completed a buy-refurbish-refinance deal in their first year.

• 11% had flipped a property for profit in the same period.

• Many more were running serviced accommodation or rent-to-rent businesses.

"No one in the world gets results like this," Leeds says. "Universities charge ten times more and deliver less. My students are out there doing deals."

The full Survation summary can be viewed publicly on their website for full transparency: www.survation.com

Real people, real stories

The academy's success is reflected in its students. Damien, who once worked long hours in a low-paid job, now owns multiple HMOs and credits the academy for helping him replace his income. Yolanda used what she learned to secure her first rent-to-rent deal after years of financial struggle. Hannah, a mother of two, turned her first buy-refurbish-refinance into a full-time business.

Leeds features their journeys in the documentary and in his ongoing YouTube series Winners on a Wednesday, which he has produced every week for nearly seven years. He has also published six volumes of success stories on Amazon, covering more than one hundred and twenty student case studies.

"The people who criticise me online are not my customers," he says. "The people who have actually worked with me are the ones building their own freedom."

A new era of property education

Leeds's teaching style focuses on live training with mentoring throughout, rather than theory alone. Students learn directly from active investors, accountants, and solicitors who are part of his in-house "power team". He also offers unlimited one-to-one mentoring for academy members.

It's a model that has attracted thousands of participants since 2016 and has now been independently verified by Survation. With so much scepticism surrounding the property training industry, verification is a rare achievement.

"This study matters," Leeds says. "It's not my numbers. It's theirs. Survation has worked with the BBC and The Telegraph, so no one can say it was collected from a friendly neighbour."

Coming clean about everything

The documentary does not shy away from vulnerability. It includes the deals that failed, the lawsuits, and the financial risks that nearly wiped him out. Yet that honesty is what audiences responded to most.

"Every property developer has stories they would rather hide," says one guest who attended the O2 premiere. "The difference is that Samuel showed all of it. That takes courage."

At the end of the film, Leeds reminds viewers that true freedom is not about wealth but about growth. "Financially free, free to do what?" he asks. "Free to build more. True happiness is found in progression."

The next chapter

Since the documentary's release, Leeds has continued to expand his investments across the UK, Africa, and the Middle East. His hotel portfolio now includes several boutique properties, and he continues to train thousands through his academy.

He admits that the journey has been far from smooth but says that faith and persistence have carried him through. "You will get hit, you will fall, but you get back up. That's the game."

For Leeds, Coming Clean was not the end of a story but the start of a new era of openness in business. "I'm proud of my results and proud of my students," he says. "If the world wants to see what I've done, I'll show them. Nothing to hide."

Watch the full documentary "Coming Clean About My Property Portfolio" on YouTube.

For the verified Survation data report, visit: https://www.survation.com/archive/2025-2/samuel-leeds-academy-data-tables-survation-september-2025-1/