Big Society Capital has published its annual survey showing the amount invested into tackling social issues increased to £9.4bn in 2022, up from £7.9bn in 2021.

The increasing investor appetite for social investment has been attributed to three key drivers: social investment offers a diverse portfolio of investments that provide resilient returns; the sectors where it invests all have strong long-term demand characteristics; and many investment areas like social housing are backed by Government statutory funding making them resilient to macroeconomic forces.

Stephen Muers Big Society Capital CEO said: "The continued growth in social investment in this challenging environment is welcome and demonstrates an increasing investor appetite for creating positive change to people’s lives. But evidence shows that significantly larger amounts of private capital are badly needed to help tackle social problems.”

Big Society Capital was capitalised with funds from English dormant bank accounts and investment from the four major UK high street banks: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest Group. Social impact investment has increased more than ten-fold since 2011 when it was £830m. Over this time more than 5,000 organisations have used the capital from social investment to deliver key services and support to communities throughout the country.

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