The Government has announced the extension of two deadlines for the current Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. The changes are intended to support buyers whose move may have been delayed due to disruption in the building of new homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The deadline for homes to be built, originally 31 December 2020, has been extended until 28 February 2021. The deadline for the legal completion of the sale, 31 March 2021, remains unchanged. However, in the case of buyers who reserved their house before 30 June 2020 and have experienced severe delays in the construction process, Homes England has discretion to extend the legal completion deadline to 31 May 2021.
Some mortgage lenders are extending their mortgage offers for three months and, where this applies, your Authority to Proceed should be extended in line with this and the current guidelines.
The Government will continue to honour those Help to Buy: Equity Loans agreed with homebuyers before the lockdown and no revaluation will be necessary if your mortgage lender is happy to proceed without a revaluation.
A new Help to Buy scheme will replace the existing scheme on 1 April 2021 and run until March 2023. The scheme will offer financial help to first-time buyers for properties with a market value up to a regional property price cap.
