Home owned by Lancashire's Liv Cooke & housing vulnerable women targetted by vandals

Football freestyler turned developer Liv Cooke, 26, has amassed a property empire including dozens of HMOs around the country.

Many of her HMOs, she says, house women fleeing domestic violence and sexual abuse.

But Liv- who was the world freestyle football champion in 2017 - said that one of her HMO properties in Oldham, Greater Manchester has been recently vandalised.

Yobs have twice daubed the words 'No HMO' in grey paint over its front door and window.

Liv, who hails from Leyland, said the vandalism delayed move-ins and put those waiting for housing at risk.

The former Balshaw's Church of England High School and Runshaw College student says she has housed nearly a thousand 'vulnerable women' in her HMOs in the last two years.

Liv said: "We had vulnerable people ready to move in, women who needed to escape dangerous situations.

"When the property was vandalised, it delayed us by weeks. Delays in which those women potentially had to stay somewhere unsafe."

The first incident was reported on September 4, with more vandalism spotted just over a month later when the house was again targeted and a van outside the property was also damaged.

The businesswoman has reported the incident to the police.

Liv also hit out at Reform UK's Cllr Lewis Quigg, who she accused of posted private planning correspondence about the property in a public Facebook group.

She said this risked escalating tensions around the site after it had already been targeted.

Responding, Cllr Quigg said that he had been contacted by residents with concerns about the property who say "it is not right for the area".

He said: "They didn't know who was moving into the property and they had no idea what was it was going to be used for.

"It could be migrants, it could be anyone.

"People have concerns over HMO's due to crime and antisocial behaviour.

"I was just trying to establish the facts."

He said he made it clear to Ms Cooke's development company that he would be sharing correspondence publicly.

Cllr Quigg said: "I established the facts and her letter was published in verbatim and in full".

The property has now been fully renovated, with new residents expected to move in within days.

Oldham Council was approached for comment by SWNS.

Seven-time world record holder Liv rose to fame in 2016 when she became the youngest ever qualifier for the Red Bull Street Style World Finals at just 17-years-old.

Later that year, she qualified for the 2016 World Football Freestyle Championships in Melbourne and came second.

She then competed in the 2017 Super Ball open football freestyle championships and won all of her battles, becoming the youngest person in history to claim the world football freestyle champion title.

She has gone on to host MOTDx and become a UEFA ambassador and Parliamentary Rising Star.

In recent years, Liv has branched out to property development, describing herself as a "HMO specialist".

A well regarded influencer, she also now has nearly 8 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and X.