Govt rolls out temporary relief measures for property sector amid pandemic

AS THE ongoing circuit breaker continues to disrupt construction timelines and property sales, the government has introduced temporary relief measures for property developers and individuals affected by those disruptions.

The temporary relief measures, which kick in immediately, are: a six-month extension of the project completion period (PCP)  for residential, commercial and industrial development projects;  a six-month extension for the completion and sale of housing units in residential development projects relating to Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) remission for housing developers; an extension of the PCP and/or disposal period by up to six months for residential projects under the Qualifying Certificate (QC) regime for foreign housing developers; as well as a six-month extension for the sale of the first residential property in relation to ABSD remission for the second residential property purchased by a Singaporean married couple.

However, certain criteria have to be met to qualify for these reprieves. For instance, for developers to qualify for the ABSD extension, the land must have been purchased on or before June 1, 2020; and the original timeline for starting residential development must expire on or after Feb 1, 2020.

For a Singaporean married couple to qualify for ABSD remission on a second residential property, the second property must have been jointly purchased on or before June 1 2020; and the original timeline for the sale of the first residential property must expire on or after Feb 1 2020. Under the ABSD regime, a Singaporean married couple buying a second residential property together have to sell their first residential property within six months of acquiring the second (completed) home in order to qualify for a remission of the ABSD on the second property.

The pandemic and public-health measures implemented by governments worldwide have hampered supply chains and caused a manpower crunch, and the two-month circuit-breaker measures in Singapore have suspended work at construction sites, forced developers to shut their sales galleries and brought house viewings to a halt. This, in turn, has affected construction timelines and dampened the sale of residential units. 

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of National Development, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Trade and Industry said: "The government will continue to ensure that prices for private residential properties remain broadly consistent with economic fundamentals. Hence, these temporary relief measures do not alter the other existing residential property market cooling measures."

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They also said that the government expects developers "to similarly provide relief and support to their main contractors, especially during the circuit-breaker period, when the progress of work is disrupted".