5 long-term lessons for developers from COVID 19

Authored by: Vijay Verma, CEO, Sunworld Group   The pandemic of COVID 19 has made lockdown an essential way of living. This has brought a nationwide standstill to all industries and businesses. These uncertain and testing times have made different sectors like real estate, manufacturing, retail, FMCG adopt alternate and unconventional options to keep their pace of work running. These new adoptions have not only changed the working cycle but also gave them some lessons to carry in the future. Here is a list of 5 long term lessons from the phase of COVID 19 which real estate developers can absorb and imbibe in their functioning to keep their business steady even amid a standstill situation like this. Importance of hygiene and amenities The crucial lesson that is surely going to become a norm post COVID 19 phase will be cleaner construction sites or projects that promote hygienic conditions in society including amenities with minimal human interface. Looking at the gravity of the situation developers would be revising the list of amenities that they provide and will come up with standards to ensure work place hygiene and wellness at their sites and projects. All amenities housings or projects offering mixed use & enjoyments Location and comfort are the determining factors when someone takes a call regarding real estate. To get access to shopping or entertainment or medical in neighbourhood remains a problem in most of the group housings. Further current pandemic lockdown also pushed the sector to think of providing exclusive space within the apartment or within the housing to perform for office as well. Even in the posh localities people have to walk a lot to reach a supermarket or a mall or locked up without any option of having separate space for their personal wants and professional performance. Post-Covid, people might look for projects that will take care of it and hence people love to invest in one. Newer areas where required infrastructures can be provided should be developed as mixed land use areas and for that government has to provide sanctions accordingly. The concept of mixed development developments with retails, entertainments, shoppings, offices shopping accommodations all under one roof or sanction will gain popularity. Develop and sell before moving to next one More and more developers will now first deliver the project in hand before going for the next one. The trend of focused approach will pick up pace. This would also help the real estate sector manage the finances and simultaneously earn enhanced trust, confidence and respect of all the stakeholders including the buyers. Strong COVID 19 game is a must The Internet has become the easiest, fastest and most accessible platform of information for all. There is no denial of the fact that the sales in the real estate sector depends largely on people getting the look and feel of the property; they are thinking of investing in it. This barrier has been easily taken care of with the digital means of virtual site or property tours. More than that, a strong digital presence is also supporting the developers through lead generation. This crisis has once again necessitated the need for investing in online meetings, digital walkthroughs, tech-enabled transaction platforms. Till now such things were part of academic discussions. But now, it will surely see more investments in developing such online platforms. Technology-based eco- friendly construction One of the most important lessons is the importance of construction with minimal human interference. The manpower situation that is being faced by the sector has made the developers employ new construction techniques and equipments that require less human interference. Further consideration should be to acquire such equipments & machineries run by eco-friendly power sources to improve the efficiency and curtail the dependency on human power; which has now become the main cause of delays and ultimately the main reason of uncertainty on completion.