“We started Homepay out of a real need we were seeing in the market,” says Morse. “Clients were coming through our family’s residential construction company in Tasmania, excited to build, but unable to move forward due to the financial burden of managing both rent and the additional repayments on a new construction loan. We knew we had to find a better way.” FROM CONSTRUCTION TO INNOVATION Homepay was born from a collaboration between Morse and his brother Sam, who founded and runs SJM Property Developments, a residential builder completing over 200 homes a year. With Morse’s consulting background in process optimization and operational turnarounds, the brothers aligned their expertise during the pandemic when Morse returned to Australia on one of the last flights before the borders closed. Their efforts initially focused on streamlining and certifying residential construction operations under ISO 9001 standards to enable an ability to scale efficiently. But the real turning point came when workshopping how to solve a financing challenge that sidelined a significant number of eager buyers. “People were stuck paying rent while trying to build, or as investors, covering loans on unfinished properties with no rental income. It was financially straining and emotionally distressing,” Morse explains. The solution was Homepay’s flagship offering: a construction loan that allows clients to pause repayments on build and land for up to 12 months during construction.This innovative structure eases the transition into homeownership by removing the double burden of rent and a mortgage. Combined with generous borrowing capacity and a strict builder accreditation process, the product offers unparalleled peace of mind. A BUILDER NETWORK BUILT ON TRUST During a period marked by a rise in insolvencies among construction firms—builder failures more than doubled from 2022 to 2024—Homepay recognized an urgent need to restore trust and transparency to the industry. One of Homepay’s most powerful innovations is their rigorous builder auditing framework which has been critical for their lenders to have the confidence to offer such a compelling financial product. “Every builder we work with is independently reviewed for financial health, build quality, business processes and build timeframes,” Morse says.“We’re not just looking at finished homes. We’re inspecting the slab and frame stages—because that’s where the quality issues begin.” The auditing process includes in-depth financial analysis, on-site inspections using geo-tagged, timestamped video and photo documentation, and 39 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 07, ISSUE 07 HOMEPAY
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