Connexus secures additional £40m funding

Connexus has secured £40m of investment through the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme. The funding is in addition to a £60m private placement agreed in November 2024 and takes the association’s recent investment raised to £100m.  

The Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme provides loans to Registered Providers of Social Housing for the development of new affordable housing and investment in existing homes through decarbonisation and other improvement work.  

Connexus was supported by the scheme’s investment manager Venn, treasury consultants Savills Financial Consultants and with legal support from Anthony Collins.

Kate Smith, Connexus chief executive, said: “We’re really pleased to have secured £40m through the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme. This investment, combined with recent private placement funding, will allow us to plan for the long-term with much more certainty. 

“The investment from the scheme will be split equally between new build affordable homes and refurbishment programmes. The immediate availability of funds will support our development pipeline and help with improvements due to begin in the new financial year as part of a revised corporate plan.  

James Taylor, head of finance and procurement at Connexus, said: “Improving the supply of new affordable homes in rural areas is a key priority for Connexus, so I’m delighted we’ve been able to secure this funding through the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme. 

“Our existing customers will also benefit significantly too, with £20m dedicated to retrofit and refurbishment work. This will be focused on improving the energy efficiency of homes through the use of renewables and other green technologies."  

Oriane Auzanneau, Deputy Portfolio Manager for AHGS and Managing Director at Venn, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Connexus to the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme as part of this transaction. Given the increasing Gilt rates over the last two months, this outcome demonstrates the continued attractiveness of funding under the scheme, even at longer tenors, to support the sector’s affordable development pipelines and investment programmes.” 

Joe Atkinson at Savills Financial Consultants said: “The Affordable Homes Guarantee scheme presented an attractive funding route for Connexus due to its cost-effective, long-term and fixed rate structure. This funding outperformed Connexus’ long-term business plan assumptions and has helped to generate additional capacity for the organisation.” 

Jon Coane, partner and head of funding at Anthony Collins said: “We are pleased to have supported Connexus with both the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme and the private placement, which will help Connexus continue to improve the lives of their existing customers and build more social housing in their rural communities. The brilliant Connexus team have worked hard to ensure that these funding streams are in place and we are delighted to have been able to play a part.”