Housing partnership re-invests funds to deliver new social rent homes and health and well-being initiatives
Bamboo, a local letting and sales agent, was established in 2016 as a joint venture between housing associations Torus and Magenta Living. Bamboo was set up as a commercial entity, allowing its parent organisations to generate a surplus to be used solely to reinvest back into the communities they both serve.
Since its inception, Bamboo has grown year-on-year and now has a portfolio of over 200 rental properties. After a successful pilot scheme, Bamboo has recently entered the sales market, acting as a sales agent for Magenta Living’s latest development, Willow Sands in West Kirby which included 11 new properties available for shared ownership.
This year Bamboo is proud to announce it has generated an additional surplus of £745k which will be distributed between Magenta Living and Torus to benefit their local communities of Wirral, Liverpool, Warrington, and St Helen’s.
Magenta Living is committed to investing in future homes and have committed to using this additional income to build more homes for social rent in Wirral. Torus will be gift aiding the monies to the Torus Foundation (Torus’ charitable arm) that supports Torus’ tenants in Liverpool, Warrington & St Helen’s. The Torus Foundation invests in innovative programmes to improve health and wellbeing, support people into employment, and digital and financial inclusion projects.
Catherine Murray-Howard, Chair of Bamboo and Chief Operating Officer of Torus, said, “Bamboo is a great example of a local company that delivers good service to its customers but is also putting something back to the local community. I am proud to be a part of an ethical business doing what it can to improve the lives of local people.”