Help to Buy Scheme: Coronavirus

(asked on 19th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to Homes England's press release of 8 December 2020 on the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on housing starts, if his Department will ensure that buyers already in the process of purchasing properties will not lose access to Help to Buy scheme finance in the event of covid-related delays to the construction of their properties.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 25th January 2021

Following the initial effects of Covid-19 there was a hiatus to construction during the first national lockdown. That is why the Government working with Homes England on 31 July announced changes to the Help to Buy contractual deadlines, which provided developers an extra two months’ build time. This gave developers using Help to Buy until 28 February 2021 to build out properties, with the deadline for legal completion remaining at 31 March 2021. However, additionally, where reservations were agreed before 30 June 2020, they were granted some further flexibility allowing such reservations to practically complete by 30 April and legally complete by 31 May 2021.

Working in line with sector guidance, the construction industry has been allowed to continue during the subsequent Covid-19 restrictions. Reservations for the current scheme were closed on 15 December, providing builders sufficient time to complete their orders.

Meanwhile, to mitigate against the risk of outstanding reservations not completing in time, Homes England announced on 15 January that it will not enforce the practical completion deadline of 28 February 2021 for the current scheme, thereby maximising the remaining time available time for developers to build out.

These measures provide relief for developers to build out homes delayed by Covid-19. We nevertheless continue to monitor the situation closely.

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