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Northern Irish housing association receives £100m investment from pension insurer
Northern Irish housing association Apex Housing has secured a £100m debt investment from a specialist insurer to go towards building new homes.
The Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) will invest the money in the 6,000-home landlord to support its plans to develop 1,500 new homes in the coming years. It will also help to refinance some of the association’s existing debt.
Based in Derry/Londonderry, Apex owns and manages more than 6,000 homes across Northern Ireland.
Its stock is set to increase to more than 7,000 once its current planned programmes are completed.
The deal with PIC will use a deferred drawdown structure, with £60m of funding being drawn down fire, and £40m deferred for one to two years to meet Apex’s development plans.
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PIC’s investment marks the first time the insurer has invested in social housing in Northern Ireland. To date, it has invested more than £2bn in social housing across the UK.
The debt is due to mature in 2041 and 2055 to match PIC’s pension commitments in those years, while the funds are secured on a pool of social housing assets.
Roderick Canning, director of finance at Apex, said: “This investment will continue to support our growth strategy of providing high-quality affordable housing to those in need across Northern Ireland.
“We look forward to strengthening our relationship with PIC and other investors so we may continue to provide cost-effective services for our tenants and service users.”
Eugenia Korobova, debt origination manager at PIC, said: “We are very pleased to have worked with Apex Housing Association on this transaction, which is our first housing association investment in Northern Ireland.
“The investment provides an attractive risk profile in an area of high demand for social housing.
“In addition, the maturity profile is well suited to our liabilities.
“The team at Apex impressed us with its expertise, knowledge and strong governance and we are delighted to continue our commitment to supporting social and affordable housing.”
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