“You need a system that puts the politicians, the planning departments, the planning officers under pressure to deliver a minimum amount of homes every year, or there are severe ramifications for them.”

Jonathan Vandermolen is the CEO of Vandermolen Real Estate and has over 35 years of experience within the property industry. He founded the Blenheim Bishop agency in 1991, which was the first independently owned land, development consultancy and new homes business before trying his hand at development and forming Vandermolen Real Estate in 2018. Since then, Jonathan has developed a reputation as a thought leader in the residential development market. 

In this episode, Jonathan explains that if he were Housing Minister he would create a planning structure that would have to be adhered to by all local councils, no matter what political party they were from, and ensure councils are obligated to provide a set amount of affordable housing, which start at 40 or 50 units in size. Over time, Jonathan would ensure that the planning system would mandate local authorities to have a minimum number of planning consents granted. Finally, Jonathan explains the need for more greenbelt housing to provide more people with a better quality of life - with environmentally friendly homes at the heart of any new homes policy. 

"I think the role of Housing Minister is a really challenging one because it lacks permanence...and yet you're dealing with a sector and an area of work that needs long-term strategic thinking."

In this episode we speak to Tariq Shah, the Director at the Vigo Group, a firm that specialises in transformational property-based projects, taking under-used or decaying assets and breathing life into them. Tariq is also Chairperson for Doncaster Town Deal Board and the Chairman of The Sleep Charity. 

Tariq explains that if he were Housing Minister, he would prioritise creating plurality in the housing industry; particularly focusing on how to support the competitiveness of SME housebuilders through partnering with tech companies to provide productivity and digitisation infrastructure to this group. He discusses how to stimulate long-term consistency in the planning system and also explains the benefits of further investment into infrastructure in areas across the country. He emphasises the need for stakeholders across the community to feel included in decision-making around housing developments and that after 10 years, in the role, digitisation, efficiency and productivity should be repeatable pillars for the housing sector.

“We all know that diversity is key in any flourishing economy and therefore bringing a lot more smaller developers to the table, allowing them more access to a piece of that pie, will in effect give us a better quality of housing stock.”

In this episode, we speak to Rutu Buddhdev, the Managing Director of Amara Property, a firm that designs and builds high-end residential homes and apartments in the UK. Amara Property specialises in luxury home developments and interiors, working on the total life cycle of development from planning, to build management, sale and exit strategies for investors. 

In this episode, Rutu explains that as Housing Minister, she would look to extend what Help To Buy has to offer, for both buyers and developers, to increase the housing supply and the projects available. Educating developers on the requirements around carbon emission reduction, and targeting supply chain issues will be key areas she would also prioritise. 

“In the first 100 days, as far as the outside world is concerned, I would do absolutely nothing.”

In this episode, we speak to Dominic Grace FRICS, the Principal at Dominic Grace Limited. Dominic previously spent 37 years at Savills and was Head of London Residential Development. He has also spent time as a Senior Advisor, Board Member and Investor to various businesses within the property and real estate tech industry.

Dominic tells us that as Housing Minister he would carefully spend time curating a team of experts within the housing sector to surround him. He explains how the climate crisis, Brexit and the skills shortages will all be major considerations to respond to and if he were Minister after ten years, that ambitions around technology will have been realised and hardwired into the everyday processes in the housing system. 

“In a digital age, we've got the opportunity to create over a hundred thousand jobs, cut carbon annually by about 20%, and also the opportunity to save something like £7 billion pounds annually just in energy costs.” 

Martin Prince-Parrott RIBA FRSA is the Director of Development and Architecture at SUB/URBAN WORKSHOP. Responsible for acquiring and bringing forward retrofit, new build and custom development, he is also leading on ESG and decarbonisation. Prior to his current role, he has worked on award-winning projects in his portfolio and with large firms like Microsoft and Barclays. 

In this episode, Martin explains that if he were Housing Minister, he would address the cladding scandal with policies to support those whose assets have been negatively impacted. He addresses how structured retrofit policies will help the sector to be in with a chance of reaching net-zero by 2050. Finally, Martin explains the potential for home-grown timber to address supply chain shortages and ways the housing sector can help build and reshape communities for the better. 

“I think any developer going into a scheme without contingency are headed towards potential cost overrun, we know that through the life of a scheme it won’t always go to plan so we will expect a contingency”.

In this episode, Aprao speaks to Daniel Joyce, a Director within the Property Finance team at Close Brothers. Close Brothers is a leading merchant banking group and one of the largest 250 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Close Brothers Property Finance has over 40 years of property lending experience and supports experienced lenders across England, Scotland and Wales.

In this episode, Daniel Joyce lends on his experience to provide advice for developers within our current market. We create an example Aprao project that you can follow as we go along, looking at how to structure sales, build costs and site acquisition. We also cover what lenders are looking for when it comes to experience and key metrics, as well as what to expect with typical project terms.

“The demand for consented sites at the moment is sky-high. The level of deals of the land scene at the moment is highly competitive...we’ve seen some pretty barmy numbers as a consequence of the demand.”

In this episode, Aprao speaks to Kevin Ellis, Founder of the Land & New Homes Network - a national association of professionals from across the housing industry, creating developments for the benefit of all. 

We cover a range of topics in this session including the problems with the land and site buying process in the current market. We also discuss what vendors and sellers are looking for and how you can manage vendor expectations. Finally, we use Aprao to practically show how our platform can help you negotiate on sites and unlock new land opportunities. For your information, this episode was originally recorded in early 2021.

“We’re a long way behind a lot of other sectors but there has been a lot of venture capital that has gone into construction [technology]...I really see this decade as the decade for significant change”.

In this episode, Aprao speaks to the co-founder of C-Link, Paul Heming, on the topic of innovation within the construction industry. In 2015 Paul Co-Founded C-Link, the #1 construction procurement software for SMEs, to bring the expertise of big business to smaller, more nimble property developers and main contractors. With a globally-notable background in QS and property development, Paul brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the fore, in this conversation about innovation, impact, and change.

We cover the problems with existing methods of procurement, what the construction sector will look like over the next decade, and how you can use technology to make an impact in your development and construction business.