The recovering housing market has helped estate agency chain Andrews & Partners to increase its donation to its charitable shareholders by 40%.

The firm, with branches across the south of England, has given a total of £586,000 from its 2012/2013 revenue to Andrews Charitable Trust.

The Andrews business model is unique in being the only estate and lettings agency in the UK owned by a charitable trust. Andrews was founded by philanthropist Cecil Jackson Cole (who went on to start Oxfam) who reasoned that the more successful it was commercially, the more it would raise for his good causes.

The latest payment, which Andrews makes each year, is the largest amount given to the Andrews Charitable Trust since 2004 and means the company has given a total of £3.6m in the past ten years.

The Trust is a grant-making charity which typically provides seed-corn funding for new charities over two- to seven-year periods. Charities include those dealing with homelessness and domestic violence, as well as those helping the poorest communities in developing countries.

Andrews chief executive Michael Robson said: “We are delighted to make such a large payment from our last year’s results, which is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff.

“Between 2012 and 2013 we saw significant activity in the housing market, and because social responsibility is at the very core of what we do we can put our profits to help good causes, which makes a huge difference to the people and communities that they support.

“We’re very proud of our ethos and we know it’s one of the many reasons why people enjoy working at Andrews.”

In addition to the annual gift aid payment, four Andrews directors act as co-trustees, donating up to ten days a year to the trust and the charities it supports.

The cheque was presented at the firm’s annual awards ceremony, held at the Williams F1 venue near Oxford, where 23 employees were recognised for their strong performance.

Ian Salter, branch manager at the Longwell Green (Bristol) branch was given the prestigious Directors’ Award. This recognised his sustained high performance and contribution to the company.

Pictured from left: Paul Heal (new chairman of the Trust), Michael Robson, Jim Glover (Andrews & Partners chairman) and Andrew Radford (Trust chairman who is standing down this year)