A Blackpool teenager is about to snatch the title of Britain’s youngest landlord.

For when he turns 18 on Thursday (March 20) Ashley Dribben is old enough to have a mortgage … and, that day, he’s all set to complete on his first property.

The £125,000 detached two-bedroom bungalow near Stanley Park is perfect for renting out to a young or elderly couple and Ashley will be on the way to building his own rental portfolio.

“I hope to buy at least one property a year but I don’t know, yet, whether this will be my main career or a sideline,” says the A-level student at Blackpool’s Arnold School sixth form college.

“I’ve been brought up in the property business and got interested at about ten years old when I started spending weekends and school holidays working with my dad.”

‘Dad’ is Lee Dribben - Blackpool landlord and chairman of the Residential Landlords Association, the country’s leading professional association for landlords with members owning over 100,000 private rented properties throughout the UK.

Ashley, from Lytham St Annes, who is currently studying maths and design technology for his A-level exams this summer, is also a black belt in Tae Kwondo and plays classical and electric guitar.

He hopes to study property management at Liverpool John Moores University and, “whatever I decide to do for a living, property will always be a central part of my life,” he says.

“I’m interested in business generally, and the stockmarket, but especially in residential and commercial property - hotels, bars and restaurants - and maybe, eventually, some redeveloping,

“If you do it right, and pick the right properties in the right locations, their long term value is never going to fall and there’s every chance of making a good living because there will always be a need for housing.”

Ashley’s short term goals, though, centre on building the right portfolio, picking up a variety of skills from property managers and estate agents to surveyors and builders … and buying a Ferrari within 10 years.

“And he has every chance of achieving that,” says his dad. “But, first, inside his birthday card there’s going to be an application form to join the Residential Landlords Association.”  

Lee explains: “He’s going to need it because the private rented sector is no place to be, these days, without the support and protection of an organisation like ours. There’s a lot to learn and the next generation of young landlords, like Ashley, is going to shape the sector’s future professional image and reputation.”