Aprao Presents...

“Our balance sheet of commitments is about a billion pounds for property development - that basically translates into supporting the development of about five and a half new homes per annum across a range of clients.”

In this episode, we hear from Paul de Croos, who is the Head of Origination for Property Development at United Trust Bank. Paul offers his insight into United Trust Bank’s process for evaluating development projects and provides some advice for developers looking to raise finance for their residential projects with the Bank. Find out how much United Trust Bank is able to finance for certain projects and about the exciting partnerships the Bank is working with to create the best experience for its clients.

United Trust Bank is a UK specialist bank providing a range of secured funding solutions including development, structured, bridging, mortgages and asset finance. 

Paul has himself spent 20 years working in banking, across multiple sectors, including both development finance and investment finance for large and medium-size housebuilders and private equity and institutional fund investors. 

Why construction needs to go digital.

“There will always be construction happening on-site and it’s here that I think digital can really shine to solve this information problem.”

In this episode, Aprao’s Julian Brockhurst speaks to Robert Sobyra, Director of Research & Digital at Construction Skills Queensland, about the increasing viability of digitisation within construction. Robert is responsible for driving CSQ’s research agenda, he is a leading thinker at the intersection of construction and skills and is a postgraduate researcher at the University of Queensland, with a special interest in regional economic growth. 

Topics covered in this episode include a high-level overview of the current construction market, such as the house building boom and its intersection with the material supply chain and the labour market shortage, as well as a detailed discussion about how we can adopt digital and technological solutions to streamline construction processes. Robert talks about CSQ’s upcoming innovation research projects, including investigating virtual reality as a use case for training programmes (something that has never been done before within the construction industry).

“People often ask this question in my industry, ‘why do we need to innovate? We’ve been just fine for the last 300 years doing it this way’. And it is true, we have been, but ultimately there is going to be a day of reckoning, at least around this demographic disruption - an economy that doesn’t innovate, that doesn’t get productivity gains, is a stagnant economy, and living standards will fall.”

Global RICS data standards and what this means for the property and tech industry.

Are you interested in the future of data adoption within the property sector?

In this episode, we speak to Andrew Knight from the Tech Partner Programme & Data Standards at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, who takes us through the global RICS data standards, and what it means for the property and tech industry. Andrew is a highly experienced technology specialist with a strong commercial background working for RICS, a global professional body in land, property, construction and infrastructure. He currently leads the programme and adoption of RICS’s data standards, the support of data exchange between service providers, technology companies and end-users of data. 

Topics included in this webinar cover the evolution of innovation in the property sector, how the tech industry can be progressed in the real estate market, barriers to data adoption, the need for further digitisation in the industry and how collaboration within the sector could make this happen.

“Working together to assemble these full digital equivalents of assets – proptech firms and other actors need to understand their part in that story and they need to help by assembling this data for customers” - Andrew Knight

How can we create smarter communities within the Australian development space?

In this episode, Julian Brockhurst speaks to Kirsty Chessher-Brown on this issue in relation to Queensland. Kirsty is the CEO of UDIA Queensland, the largest urban development network of community creators in Queensland, and has wide-ranging experience developing the Institute’s policy, stakeholder engagement, and research endeavours as well as consulted on a significant amount of state and local government policy development. Joining the Institute in 2006, Kirsty has directly overseen the growth of the UDIA’s EnviroDevelopment program and was instrumental in the establishment of the Research Foundation. 

Topics covered in this conversation includes how best to drive change within Queensland’s development industry to facilitate greener, smarter and more resilient communities, whether this be through advanced research methods or the development of effective policy. We also cover how to develop in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. What technology have UDIA noticed developers embracing?

Why are accountants as important as project managers for developments?

In this episode Aprao’s Julian Brockhurst speaks to Jayden Coulston, a Chartered Accountant at BDO Australia specialising in the areas of debt advisory and business restructuring with over 10 years of experience, about the common pitfalls developers can avoid by engaging with an accountant early on in a project.  

The topics covered include what to avoid when handling the finances around a development project, how developers can innovate and structure to gain a competitive advantage and the impact of innovative tech solutions on BDO.

“In the accountant world, I believe that we can have just as much of an influence as a project manager on the profitability of a project...We can assist as a second set of eyes on a feasibility. All those areas even individually can make or break a project.”  – Jayden Coulston

How technology is changing the commercial property services industry.

In this episode, Julian Brockhurst chats to Luke Borg, a Senior Project Manager at Savills QLD. 

Having successfully managed the delivery of projects across various asset classes and for public, private and not-for-profit clients, Luke has led a range of projects from acquisition through to completion. With 13 years of experience in the construction and property industry, this episode is full of insights into the exciting impact that technology is having on the commercial property landscape.

Topics covered in this episode include the significant changes to the commercial property services industry over the past five years, how technology can overcome the pain points in the sector and why innovation is so vital for driving the industry forward. What trends can we expect to see in the future?

How to make a construction loan finance application like a pro.

Does the thought of a loan finance application stress you out? It can often be difficult to know where to start.

In this episode, we will touch on all the elements of how to make a successful construction finance application in this conversation with Matthew Royal, Co-founder Development Finance Partners. Prior to co-founding Airlisting.com & Development Finance Partners, Matthew was an Associate Director of Property Finance at BankWest, with an extensive understanding of the financial criteria and methodology used in assessing Property Development and Investment proposals. 

Topics covered in this episode include what steps developers can take to reduce their risk and and increase their return on equity, the common mistakes developers make when seeking funding and most importantly, how to avoid these errors.

How can you utilise the power of proptech to drive your development projects further?

In this episode, Aprao chats to Isaac Coonan from Proptech Brisbane about how developers can leverage Australian proptech companies. Isaac has extensive experience in building some of the country's leading innovation and tech communities with a particular focus and passion for the property technology cluster. He’s currently the Senior Industry Development Manager for Brisbane Economic Development Agency, leading the city of Brisbane's Proptech strategy along with being a global advisor to Second Century Ventures and their accelerator program, REACH.

This discussion includes some of the proptech companies developers should have their eye on in the market, helpful tips for how developers can keep ahead of trends in proptech and some key examples of developers who have leveraged this emerging sector to their benefit in the past.

How can you efficiently de-risk your next development project?

In this episode, Aprao speaks to Clinton Arentz, Head of Lending at Trilogy Funds Group to discuss how the lending industry has adapted over the last few years and how developers can navigate these changes for the best outcome for their projects. Trilogy Funds also operates managed investment trusts holding assets across mortgages, direct real property and other financial assets on behalf of over 14,000 investors. When acting on behalf of their clients, the Trilogy team utilise their extensive understanding of finance and fundraising to acquire completed stock or sites on which to develop commercial, industrial, childcare, specialist medical and NDIS projects around Australia. 

Topics covered in this episode include key credit enhancement strategies, Trilogy’s generalised funding parameters and a whole toolkit of knowledge developers can use when upskilling their financials.

In this episode, we discuss how far the development industry has come over the last 5 years, the biggest pain points facing developers today, how best to approach a relationship with technology, and what solutions are currently adding the most value. 

We're looking ahead to the next 5 years - what can we expect to see on the horizon, and how will property developers respond in order to stay ahead?