Kane & Jay
How we'd split the money.

Quick context — this is rent-to-rent

We're not buying properties. This is a rent-to-rent serviced accommodation model (R2R). Here's the shape:

1. One of us signs a long lease (12–36 months) with the landlord at a fixed monthly rent.
2. We target furnished 1 & 2-bed apartments — properties already kitted out, so no furniture pack to fund.
3. That person puts in the setup capital: deposit, first month's rent, smart locks, listing photography, initial supplies, soft-furnishing top-ups — ~£3,000 per property.
4. We run the property as serviced accommodation (Airbnb, Booking.com, direct) under our management.
5. Our profit = guest income − landlord rent − bills − management fee.
6. The funder absorbs the void risk — landlord rent has to be paid every month, even if bookings are zero.
7. The funder takes 100% of property profit from day one — no payback period. Their capital, their risk, their reward.

No mortgage debt, no stamp duty, no major capex risk. The play is the spread between what the landlord charges and what we can earn from short-stay guests, multiplied across a portfolio.

What each of us brings

Worth keeping two things separate in our heads, because they're not the same thing.

1. Funding individual properties — symmetric

Each property's lease and ~£3k setup capital sit in the property company on that side — A Fuller Life Property Ltd (my side — a dedicated property company wholly owned by AFLAI Ltd) or Hawarden Group Ltd (yours). We take turns funding as new ones come up. Whichever company funds a property holds its lease, carries its void risk, and keeps that property's profit (after costs and the 16% management fee). That's the property side — entirely symmetric between us, and the profit follows whoever paid.

2. Running the joint business — Hawarden Living Ltd — asymmetric by design

This is where the partnership lives. Hawarden Living Ltd is owned 50/50 by AFLAI Ltd and Hawarden Group Ltd — our two companies are the shareholders, not us personally. It's the management entity that runs every property and charges the 16% fee. The even split reflects what each side brings to running it:

The two scenarios

The cleaning fee always pays you first. When you funded the property, you keep all of it. When I funded it, you still take 75% because the work is yours. The protection makes sure your labour is properly compensated in both directions.

Worked example

A realistic 2-bed furnished apartment in Liverpool / Wirral, one typical month.

That £508 profit + £800 cleaning pot get distributed differently depending on who funded the setup:

You earn ~1.8× more in Scenario A because the setup capital + void risk are yours. You earn less in Scenario B because the risk is mine — but you're still paid £856/month per property for cleaning + management share, with zero capital outlay and zero risk if a month is a write-off. Five AFLAI-funded properties under management = £4,280/month from your share alone. Mix in a couple of Hawarden Group-funded ones and the numbers really start moving.

Why this is fair to you

• Your physical labour is never unpaid. Every cleaning fee compensates the work, regardless of who funded the property.
• Setup capital risk = capital reward. When you put your ~£3k into a property, you keep 100% of its profit from day one. When I do, I do. Symmetric. Void risk follows the capital — fair both ways.
• Management is shared because we both run it. The 16% mgmt fee covers guest comms, owner relationships, admin — that's both of us, so 50/50 every time.
• You're using paid-tier AFLAI tools as a partnership benefit. Compass + TIC are products AFLAI sells to other operators for hundreds of pounds per property per month. You use them free for our shared business — and the more we scale, the more material that benefit becomes.
• It scales with you, not despite you. Five properties under management means 5× the cleaning fees + 5× the management fee split. Your ceiling rises with the portfolio, not just with the properties you personally fund.

What we still need to nail down

The spine is locked: 16% management fee · R2R model · ~£3k setup per property · Hawarden Living Ltd owned 50/50 by AFLAI Ltd + Hawarden Group Ltd · Compass + TIC access from AFLAI free as its equity contribution · the 50/50 and 75/25 splits above.

Profit + void mechanism — the buffer pot (Jay's idea, and a smart one). This is how serious R2R / PM operators run their cashflow — protect the property before paying out profit. Each property's revenue sits in the company that funded it (A Fuller Life Property Ltd or Hawarden Group Ltd); Hawarden Living only takes the 16% fee. For each property's first 6 months, 50% of monthly property profit is retained in a per-property savings pot — the buffer for voids and major maintenance. After 6 months, 100% of property profit flows to the funder. If the pot ever empties from a serious hit, the funder tops it up. The buffer rule only affects the funder's share — cleaning fees and mgmt-fee split flow as normal.

What counts as a "bill" (charged monthly to the property as an expense): council tax, utilities, wifi, insurance, cleaning consumables and supplies, toilet roll, coffee pods, listing software, smart-lock subscriptions. Your cleaning fee stays as clean labour income.

Cover when you're not available: your team (family in ops) covers each other — never a missed turnover. Not a question for us.

Entity shape: Four companies, clean split. AFLAI Ltd (software + the Compass/TIC IP) wholly owns A Fuller Life Property Ltd, which holds the leases my side funds; Hawarden Group Ltd holds the leases your side funds; and AFLAI Ltd + Hawarden Group Ltd own 50% each of Hawarden Living Ltd, the management entity that charges the 16% fee. Keeping the R2R leases in a dedicated AFLAI property company — not inside AFLAI Ltd itself — ring-fences the property trade from the software business and keeps their VAT positions clean from the start. The accountant still confirms the VAT/TOMS detail, but the structure is built to avoid commingling, not patched for it later.

A few specifics still need agreeing before binding:

1. Per-property bills list. We'll keep a clear list per property as we onboard each one — so the accountant has clean records and nothing drifts month-to-month.
2. Soft furnishings at lease end. Properties come furnished, so this is small — but linens, towels, welcome-kit items, smart locks, decor we've added stay with the funder by default.
3. Third-party properties (future customers of Hawarden Living). Managing for other landlords — management fee 50/50, cleaning fees same 75/25 split. Third party gets a clean monthly net statement.
4. Exit clause. If either of us wants out in 12 / 24 / 60 months — leases assigned to the remaining partner? Share sold at a multiple? Defined upfront, not under stress.
5. VAT + buffer-pot tax treatment. Accountant needs to opine on (a) whether TOMS applies to our R2R model and how registration timing plays across the group (keeping the property company's VAT threshold separate from AFLAI's software turnover), and (b) the cleanest treatment of the buffer pot for Corporation Tax — retained profit is still taxed annually, so the buffer protects cash flow but doesn't defer tax. Wider VAT strategy agreed before we scale.

For your eyes — the accountant brief

I've drafted a separate, more technical brief to send to your accountant once you've green-lit it. It covers the four-company structure (AFLAI Ltd · A Fuller Life Property Ltd · Hawarden Group Ltd · Hawarden Living Ltd), the VAT/TOMS question, the buffer-pot mechanism (your idea — credited in there), and the equity-contribution arrangement around AFLAI's tools. Want you to proof it before it goes anywhere.

Once you've read it and you're happy with the framing, give me the nod and we'll send it over together.