Aggregator sells £25m of retained bonds for housing association using fintech auction platform

Lloyds Bank acted as underwriter on the transaction.

Ongo Homes will use the funding for general corporate purposes.

Ashley Harrison, director of resources and commercial services at Ongo, said: “For our tenants, this means we can continue with our plans to maintain and improve existing homes, build new affordable homes, and invest in services that support our communities.

“We welcome this drawdown under our instalment fee facility with Blend, which gives us certainty over funding at a time when investment in our homes and services has never been more important.

“The ability to access pre‑arranged capital markets funding in a single, efficient transaction is a valuable part of our financial strategy and helps us to continue investing in safe, affordable homes across our communities.”

According to its website, BondAution enables “real-time price discovery and improved transparency, similar to government bond auctions”. It does this by allocating all bids at a single clearing price via an open auction process.

Spencer Maclean, co-founder of BondAuction, said: “By allowing bids with a 1/10bps increment and allotting on a best price basis, the platform shows true investor appetite to the issuer and underwriter, allowing for clear and transparent outcomes.”

Jakub Palowski, relationship manager at THFC, said: “[This] transaction underlines the strength and certainty of the Blend model in meeting housing associations’ evolving funding needs.

“By deploying retained bonds via BondAuction’s inaugural trade, we have been able to provide Ongo with swift access to competitively priced, shorter‑dated capital markets funding that supports its long‑term plans for homes and communities.

“The flexibility of the instalment fee structure has empowered Ongo to take advantage of opportunities at the right time while maintaining normal course of business and strong operational liquidity.”

In November 2025, three landlords, Vico Homes, Aster Group and WHG, secured a collective total of £350m with THFC through Blend.

According to its 2024-25 financial results, Ongo grew its pre-tax surplus from £6m in 2023-24 to £8.4m last year.

Update: at 5.07pm, 09.02.26

The story was edited to correct an error referring to the bonds as 2030, rather than 2032, and to clarify that there now remain £225m of retained 2032 bonds.