United Trust Bank (UTB) and PropTech provider Aprao have announced a collaborative relationship to promote the benefits of digital solutions in the development finance sector.
As a leading specialist bank providing funding to SME housebuilders and developers, UTB receives high volumes of enquiries and appraisals submitted in a wide variety of formats.
Aprao is an online platform for the creation and management of property development appraisals. This cloud-based appraisal platform enables property developers to increase their speed, efficiency, and accuracy when packaging new funding proposals.
UTB is keen to encourage the adoption of appropriate smart digital solutions across the specialist finance sector and the Bank is now able to accept and consider new development appraisals submitted via Aprao, which can be trialled for free via Aprao’s website.
Aprao’s relationship with UTB started when CEO, Daniel Norman, was invited to contribute an article to UTB’s ‘Wise Owl’ series in which industry thought leaders share their opinions on a range of topics relating to the Real Estate sector. Daniel, who has a background in development finance, examined why so many property developers and house builders were still using Excel to present their appraisals, despite its many drawbacks.
Adam Bovingdon, Head of Property Development – United Trust Bank, commented: “We welcome this collaborative relationship with Aprao and the adoption of appraisal software which enables a consistent and accurate approach to the evaluation of development projects. Although many of our customers are using very good self-built appraisal tools, we also recognise that appropriate digital solutions can improve productivity and responsiveness for new development finance proposals. A win-win for UTB and our customers.”
Daniel Norman, CEO of Aprao, commented: “As a relatively new platform in the ‘PropTech’ space, it’s important for us to build trust with property professionals. By offering a free trial and detailed training videos we can make it incredibly easy for developers to start using the platform right away. Most of our customers are up and running the same day they sign up, testing and benefitting from the system before ha having to commit to anything.
“An open and collaborative relationship between lenders, developers, and ‘PropTech’ platforms is important in ensuring that digital solutions serve all parties, recognising their needs and helping to simplify and accelerate the property funding process.”