A NEW Carlisle property developing and investing business is aiming to 'make a difference' in the local market. 

Santo Mil Properties is owned by Carlisle natives, 24-year-old Michael McCaul and 23-year-old Sophie Thompson, who initially established their business in 2023, however are now stepping up their entrepreneurial efforts. 

The business aims to 'provide high-quality accommodation, improving the living standards of the renting population', with a focus on investing in residential and commercial properties, whilst also 'putting the tenant's needs first'. 

Michael and Sophie, who together have over 10 years of experience in the local property industry, explained more about why they wanted to launch Santo Mil.

"I have worked in my parents' property business since I was around 14 or 15 and I have always had a passion for it," Sophie said.

"We always talked about getting into property together and then during Covid, we decided to buy first our refurbishment project," Michael added.

"We built our experience from there and we arrived back from travelling in February and I think that gave us some time to reflect on our goals and our plans and it gave us a clean slate to jump straight into it."

For Michael and Sophie, transparency and quality are two core values of Santo Mil, with the pair 'committed to delivering high standards of services' while also documenting their journey through social media.

The pair also hope this will help break down negative stereotypes surrounding landlords.

Sophie said: "We want to put high-quality properties onto the market for tenants to rent out and we want to do this with it all documented on our social media for transparency.

"We want people to be involved and see what it entails and we want to use our social media to share tips or mistakes we make along the way to help people.

"It is about improving the standards of property that are on the market at the moment.

"We also have an environmentally conscious aspect to the business. We are really trying to push sustainability and we want to build a sustainable relationship with our tenants and the local community and build a good reputation in the local area.

"We are hardworking and trustworthy people who just want to make a difference."

Michael was also keen to stress that Santo Mil will be an 'innovative and forward-thinking' business that will hopefully inspire other young property developers.

He said: "We want to be innovative and forward-thinking and cast a fresh set of eyes over the local property industry.

"As young people, we also want to prove that you don't have to be rich to invest."