Singapore Contractors Association Limited recently revealed that the home buyers in Singapore are expected to experience higher costs and longer waiting time for the real estate properties; mainly due to the strict border restrictions posed on travelers coming from India.
It is observed that the construction sector is already going through major delays due to the increased labor crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic; as a result, the housing projects are expected to knock back by almost 9 to 12 months.
The Singapore government recently announced that the short-term visitors, as well as long-term pass holders who have recently travelled to India, will not be allowed to transit or make entry to Singapore. These new guidelines are also applicable to people who have received prior approval from authorities to enter Singapore. Lawrence Wong, the Education Minister of Singapore, who is handling the decisions related to Covid-19 said that these new guidelines may leave a major impact on the construction sector.
The experts in the Housing Sector have now given warnings regarding longer waiting times for the development of Build to Order flats as well as private apartments in the Singapore real estate market. Other than this, the buildings such as infrastructure projects and those containing major health care facilities will be also delayed above the expected date of completion.
Singapore Contractors Association Limited also forecasted that Singaporeans may also end up paying higher construction costs if this ongoing situation doesn’t come to an end at the earliest. This is because the cost of materials and labor has also increased from 30% to 50% during these days. Furthermore, the tightening guidelines for the inflow of a large number of construction workers from India will leave a negative impact on real estate construction projects along with the increased delays.
It is important to mention that the construction sector experienced a serious labor crunch right from the previous year when most of the migrant workers returned to their native places due to pandemic. Experts also revealed that many companies may be also forced to close due to the ongoing crises and it will leave a considerable impact on more than 100,000 residents indulged in the construction sector.
The tight measures at borders were implemented in view of the increased coronavirus cases in India. There were 332,730 new cases reported on Friday which is the largest single-day surge in the world for a second consecutive day. The recently reported double-mutant variant is fuelling the second wave of Covid-19 in the country.
Note that the construction industry requires a large number of migrant workers as they form the backbone of all ongoing projects and a maximum of these workers come from Bangladesh and India. The country is in major need of these workers as no permanent residents of Singapore are ready to give services as construction workers.
The experts also revealed that they are currently working on the sourcing of manpower from few other nations in the Asian region with a stay-home notice cost and the added benefits of the vaccination program.
Refer to the webpage below for more details,
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/longer-waiting-time-for-homes-increased-costs-as-a-result-of-tighter-covid-19
