As the gunfire ends, Sri Lanka's property boom begins

Just like many industries, the condominium sector is also adversely affected by the global economic recession and the instability caused in some finance companies in the country but the industry expects high demand in the market with the dawn of peace.

In this backdrop the Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka (CCI) has initiated action to revitalise the construction industry by extending assistance to the property development sector and the built environment which are paramount to the construction industry.

The Chamber has decided to make available a dedicated pavilion for badly affected property developers at the International Construction Trade Fair Excon 2009 from October 30-November 1, Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya, Chief Executive of the CCI told the Sunday Times FT.

Speaking on the sidelines of the press conference convened to announce details of the exhibition in Colombo he said that in order to overcome the non availability of easy access to obtaining bonds and guarantees for property developers , the chamber is at present in the process of formulating a conceptual framework of bonds and guarantee scheme where the chamber envisages to play the role of a “Surety Agent” as available in many other developed and developing countries, he said.

There are many property developers who are unable to recover their investments as apartments/housing units remain unsold. Further, some developers who have made sizeable investments are unable to secure additional funding required to complete ongoing projects thus bringing them to a standstill, due to reasons such as lack of investors, stagnation of demand, reluctance of the banking community to lend to this sector, and the credit freeze encountered as a result of the global recession, he said.

He added that the CCI has conducted a survey to identify the affected property developers and help them to sell their apartment units by showcasing their projects at Excon 2009. Some projects which were in the initial construction stage would also be promoted among potential investors, he said.