Housing and Development Board (HDB) has recently announced that BTO flat buyers for Punggol Waterway Sunrise II will be compensated after its completion was delayed by more than a year.

Although there are currently a total of 94 BTO projects in Singapore, Waterway Sunrise II is the only BTO project where the delay has exceeded by at least one year.

BTO flat buyers of Waterway Sunrise II will be pleased to know that HDB will disburse the maximum reimbursement sum that they are eligible for under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, without the need to to submit claims.

If they chose to cancel their BTO flat booking to buy a resale flat, HDB may consider waiving the forfeiture and one-year wait out period.

First-time flat buyers can apply for temporary housing under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme if they are unable to secure interim housing.

The revised completion dates for Waterway Sunrise II could be in the fourth quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023. 

The original completion date was supposed to be by June 2021. Unfortunately, the original contractor Lian Ho Lee Construction did not live up to expectations and they were eventually replaced by Expand Construction in October last year

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the construction sector with numerous contractors facing manpower shortages, supply disruptions and higher material costs.

HDB has taken steps to minimize the delay in BTO flat projects by helping the construction firms to recruit workers from overseas and share the increase in manpower costs.

Since January 2020, HDB has completed 25 public housing projects and delivered more than 16,000 new homes.

The average waiting time is approximately 4.4 years for BTO projects to be delivered from now until end 2024.

Punggol Waterway Sunrise II was launched in February 2017 and its prices started from S$163,000 for a three-room BTO flat to S$383,000 for a five-room flat.