It's everyone’s responsibility to give back to society. That is the belief of business partners, Vimal Anandpura and Rupal Kapadia of Stepstone Limited, which underpinned a property development project.
Vimal and Rupal purchased a derelict, light industrial site for cash in Beckenham, an area offering good commuting links. They obtained planning permission to demolish the old industrial building and construct six new apartments.
The partners registered their development project for the Help to Buy scheme, selling five of the six properties to first time buyers. Rupal explained, “It’s very hard to get onto the property ladder, so being able to help first time buyers was important to us.”
Their desire to make a positive difference also influenced the partners' choice of lender for the project. They borrowed £753,000 from CAF Bank to finance 100% of the build costs. Through a unique feature, one third of the loan arrangement fee was transferred to a charitable cause of their choosing.
This enabled Vimal and Rupal to donate over £3,700 to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity (GOSH). Vimal said, “The charitable element of the loan definitely played a key part in our decision about which lender to use.” Rupal added, “I thought it was a great thing for a bank to offer that.”