SINGAPORE: A total of S$5.5 million (US$4.14 million) in compensation has been paid to more than 1,000 flat buyers across the delayed Waterway Sunrise II and Anchorvale Village Build-to-Order (BTO) projects, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
In a media release on Saturday (Mar 8), HDB said that the compensation was provided as per the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act (COTMA) imposed during the pandemic.
Waterway Sunrise II and Anchorvale Village were completed beyond their delivery possession date, the legal contractual date by which HDB was required to hand over the flats.
Both projects had been affected by manpower shortages and supply disruptions from the pandemic, with Waterway Sunrise II facing an additional setback due to the failure of its original contractor.
"Despite significant efforts to bring these projects back on track, the total delays exceeded one year - the longest delays among all the pandemic-delayed projects," said HDB.
"These projects also marked the first time HDB has not been able to deliver projects by their legal contractual date."
HDB added that it provided eligible flat buyers with the maximum reimbursement amount they were entitled to, without requiring any claims or proof of expenses.
According to the HDB, this was done to ease the administrative processes for flat buyers and allow them to resume their life plans as soon as possible.
"All flat buyers received their reimbursements within two months after completing their flat purchase and accepting the settlement agreement with HDB."
HDB added that all housing projects currently under construction are expected to be delivered on time, with some that could be finished three to six months ahead of schedule.
One such BTO project is Toa Payoh Ridge, which is set to be completed earlier than planned.
"(Toa Payoh Ridge) was originally slated for completion in the third quarter of 2025 but is now expected to complete three months ahead of its schedule, in the second quarter of 2025," said HDB.
This is the first project since the pandemic in 2020 which will be completed earlier than the planned completion date.
"Barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect a few more projects to be completed slightly earlier of their probable completion dates (PCD) this year and next year,” HDB added.
"With the COVID-19 construction challenges behind us, we have returned to normalcy in our BTO construction progress," the board added.
All 1,651 buyers of the final two HDB housing projects delayed due to the pandemic - Punggol Point Cove (Phase 2) and Kempas Residences - have been invited to collect the keys to their new homes.
This marks the end of HDB's five-year journey to deliver all the pandemic-delayed BTO projects to homeowners, the board said.
Currently, about 88 per cent of the 1,102 booked units at Punggol Point Cove (Phase 2) and 69 per cent of the 549 booked units at Kempas Residences have already collected the keys to their new homes.
The remaining households will be collecting their keys by the end of March.
"With the completion of the final two projects, HDB has completed all 75,800 flats across the 92 housing projects that were affected by COVID-19-related disruptions," HDB said.
"To date, a total of 71,417 flat buyers (about 99 per cent of the 72,101 booked units) have collected their keys and are progressively settling into their new homes."
In 2020 and 2021, the construction sector was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, causing unprecedented delays to both public and private sectors, HDB said.
"The manpower crunch for HDB projects under construction peaked in mid-2021, with about half of the projects having less than 80 per cent of the manpower required to stay on schedule," said HDB.
"It was only in October 2022 - more than two and a half years after the onset of the pandemic - that HDB was able to restore manpower manning across all our construction projects to pre-pandemic levels."
As a result, almost all housing projects under construction were delayed past their initial PCD, except Keat Hong Verge, which was completed on schedule in March 2023, it added.
Around 30 per cent of projects were delayed by between one and six months, while approximately 62 per cent experienced delays between seven and 12 months.
Acknowledging the significant inconvenience caused by construction delays, HDB said it has assisted flat buyers based on their individual circumstances.
Flat buyers who could not secure interim housing with family, relatives, or on the open market were eligible to apply for temporary rental flats from HDB while waiting for their new homes.
Since 2020, HDB has assisted around 900 buyers in renting subsidised flats for temporary accommodation.
For those who opted to cancel their BTO flat booking to purchase a resale flat due to urgent housing needs, HDB waived cancellation forfeitures on a case-by-case basis.
In total, waivers were granted to approximately 450 flat buyers who cancelled their applications.
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