British property ‘guru’ who was mocked on-line for chartering a £150k non-public jet out of the UAE is about to make an enormous loss on his 20-bed mansion

A British property ‘guru’ who was mocked online after boasting he chartered a £150,000 private jet out of the UAE is set to make a huge loss on his 20-bed mansion investment. 

Samuel Leeds, 34, who sells controversial get-rich-quick property courses online, bought the castle in Bewdley, Worcestershire, for £810,000 in 2018 because he thought it would be a ‘fantastic development opportunity’. 

But now Mr Leeds is selling the 20-bed property for just £395,000 after saying he spent £3million on renovations. 

The investor, who fled Dubai when war erupted in the region, spent £500,000 on a new roof, removed severe Japanese knotweed and fixed structural issues – allegedly spending millions on the property, Ribbesford House, in the hopes of turning it into a wedding venue or hotel. 

Mr Leeds said he has now ‘fallen out of love’ with the Grade II-listed mansion – which still needs extensive work despite the millions the ‘guru’ has claimed to have poured into it. 

He said that the project has left him feeling ‘burned out’ and hopes to sell the property to ‘an enthusiast’ for less than half the price he bought it for. 

Mr Leeds, who lives in the UK and Dubai, said: ‘I bought it in 2018 for £810,000 because I thought it looked like a lot of a lot of bricks for your money.

‘It’s got eight acres of land, and I just thought it would make a fantastic development opportunity.

‘I’ve spent £3million renovating it.

‘I’ve sorted out all the structure. I’ve got a new roof which cost me half a million pounds.

‘There was severe Japanese knotweed and I’ve got rid of that and had it insured.

‘I’ve fallen out of love with the idea of restoring it and I haven’t really got a vision for it.

‘I’m going to lose quite a few million on it, but I’d rather it go to the right person.

‘Even if someone ends up buying it for £400,000, I don’t mind as long as they actually finish it and look after it. 

‘It just needs love, and it needs an enthusiast to actually have vision.’

Ribbesford House is on 7.9 acres of land and still requires planning permission to convert it into 22 residential dwellings. 

The main house has 20 bedrooms, 10 reception rooms and nine bathrooms over three storeys, as well as three octagonal turrets.

Mr Leeds initially listed the house at auction in November 2025, with a guide price of £1.1 million.

After failing to sell, it was listed for a second time in January 2026, with a guide price of £900,000.

It is now set to go to auction on Tuesday with a guide price of just £395,000. 

Mr Leeds said:

‘When I bought the property, a soldier that lived there in World War II took me out for dinner, and said he was so happy I was going to restore it.

‘He died shortly after and I feel like a failure, because I felt like I had a responsibility to him.’

The property is located in Ribbesford, a hamlet south of Bewdley and is near the River Severn. 

The house and its surrounding estate have a history dating back almost 1,000 years, and the current property has architectural elements ranging from the 16th to the 19th century.

The property has had a number of famous visitors, including Jungle Book writer Rudyard Kipling and French general and statesman Charles De Gaulle.

It also housed 211 French soldiers during the Second World War, who used the grounds for training.

Samuel Leeds was widely mocked earlier this month after he fled the UAE on a £150,000 private jet and told followers: ‘I don’t know why everyone is not doing this.’ 

He insisted that the missile-hit Gulf state was ‘not even dangerous’. 

Iran has fired thousands of missiles and drones at the UAE following the outbreak of war in the Middle East. 

Mr Leeds, who once said he moved to the United Arab Emirates to avoid paying ‘99.9 per cent of my taxes’ and claims to have a £20million portfolio, was condemned by critics over the ’embarrassingly crude’ social media posts. 

Leeds’ boasts have come amid a wider wave of influencers defending Dubai online, with many insisting the city remains the ‘safest place on Earth’ – despite Iranian missile and suicide drone strikes hitting targets across the Gulf. 

Influencers are allegedly terrified to speak openly for fear of arrest or losing their homes. Under UAE laws damaging the country’s reputation can carry fines of up to £200,000 or prison sentences of up to five years – followed by deportation.

Today it was claimed that three foreign survivors of a drone strike on a building in Dubai were arrested after they sent photographs of the explosion to their loved ones. 

In a video Leeds posted himself, he said: ‘If you’re trapped in Dubai, it’s very simple.

‘Drive three hours to Oman, and then when you’re in Oman, go down to the Muscat airport, and there’s literally planes waiting for you.

‘You can pay about £100,000, jump on a plane, and it’ll take you straight to Heathrow.

‘I don’t know why everyone’s not doing this.’

Leeds, a former magician whose investment courses have been described by experts as promoting tax loopholes that may not exist, was mocked online for his posts. 

One critic wrote on Facebook: ‘I don’t care how wealthy you are that is a ridiculous amount to pay for a flight, and to shout about it is embarrassingly crude.’

Another said: ‘If Dubai was so safe, how come you’re taking your wife and your children out of the country while bombs are going off?

‘Would you not rather keep them in safe Dubai while you travel to dangerous England?’

A third dismissed Leeds’ social media posturing as ‘the Dubai equivalent of tagging yourself at the gym’.