New Right Livelihood Letting Business in Cambridge

News is just in  of a new Buddhist Right Livelihood Business in Cambridge, England. It is called New View Residential and is owned by the Windhorse Trust, windhorse:evolution's parent charity.

The man behind the business is Jayasiddhi, who started work on the project in October last year. Jayasiddhi told us:

“I used to work in the property letting industry in Cambridge before joining windhorse:evolution in 2001.  In fact, that’s how I became involved in Buddhism, by renting a house to Windhorse for use as a community. I was fascinated by the sight of their shrine room and started going along to the Cambridge Buddhist Centre a couple of months later”

“I first had the idea for a Buddhist ethical Letting Agency back in 2005, shortly after my ordination. It has taken me a while to get around to it, but with the encouragement of Achara and Keturaja it started to take on a life of its own. Before I knew it I had my first landlords, Sujiva and his wife Meera, who needed to rent their house while exploring life in New Zealand. The business naturally unfolded from there.”

The Cambridge based residential letting agency acts on behalf of local landlords who wish to rent their property out. New View Residential advertises their property to help them find tenants, takes references and collect rent, deposits and so on. They also act as an agent for Letsure, who provide insurance to landlords and tenants.

New View Residential is a not-for-profit organisation meaning that it distributes its profits to charity. Half of the profits will go to Triratna Buddhist projects and the other half to charities nominated by their landlords. Jayasiddhi says “We have given our landlords a choice of five local charities to sponsor. We have also included the Karuna Trust as an option for our Buddhist landlords.

"The name “New View” carries three associations. Firstly, the Buddha’s Middle Way is a New View. Secondly, a letting agent dedicated to raising money for charity rather than profit is a New View. Thirdly, when you move home you get a New View.

“I have received a lot of help and encouragement from Keturaja, Maitridevi, Vidyavajra and Jnanasalin to name but a few. Vidyavajra has done an excellent job designing the logo and property boards. It’s been a real team effort.”

Jayasiddhi concludes by saying “I hope this new venture is successful in raising much needed funds both for Triratna Buddhism and for local charities. But, in addition to that, I really hope that we can help to raise the profile of Buddhism in the broader community. You never know how people will become involved, just look at me!”

New View Residential had their Cambridge Lettings website developed by Virya Technologies, an ethical business run by mitra Ruth Cheesely in Ipswich. Please have a look at the website and let Jayasiddhi know what you think.