Property developers in the UK are increasingly investing in technology in order to mitigate the impact of rising costs, to optimise their profits and drive new development opportunities in a bid to future-proof their businesses, according to Shawbrook.

As economic pressures such as rising interest rates and stubbornly high inflation have made the property market increasingly difficult to predict, many developers plan to use technology to keep ahead of market trends, quickly identify opportunities and reduce their costs.

Nearly half (46%) of developers surveyed by Shawbrook have invested in building management systems, whilst 45% have also invested in smart home services. More than two-in-five (43%) have turned to modular building, which offers significant savings on time, and is particularly beneficial to developers working on large projects such as flats or student accommodation.

36% are also putting money into virtual reality technology, and 35% have already invested in artificial intelligence (AI), with a further 43% also set to do so. Developers are adopting AI to improve the efficiency and the optimisation of operations across all areas of their business, including:

• Creating more intuitive designs (43%)
• Managing customer enquiries (30%)
• Creating marketing collateral for developments (22%)

Terry Woodley, MD of Development Finance at Shawbrook, added: “With firms already experimenting with new technologies such as AI, and new use cases regularly emerging in the market, it wouldn’t be surprising to expect that this technology will have a much bigger influence on development trends in the years to come.”