Singapore moved into the second phase of re-opening in June, last month.
Construction has nearly stopped altogether when the circuit breaker measures come into place, shrinking 95.6% q-o-q according to the advance forecast from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Even though construction activities are picking up, delays continue as manpower issues remain a challenge. Border restrictions impeded the possibility of getting new foreign workers into Singapore, adding to the manpower crunch. Contractors have to implement health and safety measures before getting more workers on site. Some contractors are also facing a disruption in supply of materials.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has since approved applications to start and resume work for over 2,500 construction projects including more than 900 residential projects.
Approximately six to nine months of delay is expected to add to project timelines. BCA will issue a temporary occupation permit (TOP) on completion of building works and the project can be handed back to the developer. Thereafter, buyers will have to wait for a date of vacant possession to get the keys to their new homes, usually several months after TOP.
Some projects expected to TOP in 2020 include One Tree Hill in the Core Central Region (CCR), Artra in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) and Forest Woods in the the Outside Central Region (OCR). Developers continue to launch new projects this month, including Forett At Bukit Timah.