COVID-19: Mitigating impact on the real estate sector

To help businesses tide over the COVID-19 crisis, the government has recently announced a slew of tax and regulatory relief measures providing compliance breather to businesses. However, businesses still need to remain vigilant to minimise the adverse impact of COVID-19 on their people and operations.

The real estate sector, which showed signs of recovery pre-lockdown, is once again staring at long-term challenges such as labour, finance and demand.

Here’s how leaders in the real estate sector can HALT and consider the following action points to help mitigate ongoing challenges

Rent restructuring 

• Proactively reach out to customers and retailers – if required, consider a flexible payment plan.

Liquidity management

• Reach out to existing customers and agree on a part payment plan till the situation normalises.

Use of technology

• Make use of technology and engage with customers by leveraging virtual tours. Marketing mix and budgets can be reassessed according to new and emerging challenges.

Workforce management

• Identify mission-critical work to help teams prioritise and allocate resources appropriately. Upskill and reskill the workforce.

Portfolio rebalancing

• Develop products that have a higher ratio of rent yield.

…and more