1. Part 8C of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act and the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Part 8C Relief) Regulations have been gazetted and are effective from 1 July 2021. Please refer to the legislations for more details.

    

2. The COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Amendment No. 3) Bill was passed in Parliament on 3 November 2020^[1] as part of Government’s support for the construction sector, which has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    

3. Part 8C of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act serves to provide support to developers who face construction delay due to COVID-19 and are unable to meet the committed delivery date of possession in the Sale and Purchase (S&P) Agreement to purchasers. As purchasers may have to incur out-of-pocket costs due to the delay in the delivery of the units, Part 8C also allows purchasers affected by the delay to seek reimbursement from developers.

    

4. Under Part 8C, developers who require relief may serve a notice on purchasers for an extension of the date of delivery of possession by up to 122 days, in line with the extension of time for construction projects. Should a developer require an extension of more than 122 days, they will be required to apply for an assessor’s determination of the period of extension, which is equivalent to the length of construction delay materially caused by COVID-19.

    

5. For projects where the developer has extended the date of delivery of possession, purchasers may seek reimbursement from the developers for qualifying out-of-pocket costs incurred due to the delay in delivery of the unit, up to a cap of 70% of the liquidated damages originally payable under the S&P Agreement. Purchasers of flats from the Housing and Development Board may similarly claim up to 70% of the liquidated damages based on a prescribed formula, which is aligned to that stated in the Housing Developers Rules for private housing. This approach allows for co-sharing of the delay costs between the developer and purchaser. An assessor’s determination may be sought if there is any dispute over the qualifying costs claimed by purchasers.

    

6. Please refer to Annex A for a summary of the relief measures. For more details on the relief measures and the processes under Part 8C of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, please refer to https://go.gov.sg/ura-covid-19-relief-measure.

    

7. For any enquiries or feedback relating to this circular, please email ura_covid19_registry@ura.gov.sg.

^[1] Further amendments to the COVID-19 Act were made on 5 April 2021 to facilitate the implementation and delivery of the relief under Part 8C.

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