Government gives housebuilders two more months to complete sales and finish building work
The government has agreed to a two month extension to the completion date for homes sold under the Help to Buy scheme – despite repeatedly stating it would not do so.
According to a change in the terms of the scheme made last week, housebuilders will now have until 31 May to reach legal completion of the sale of homes under the scheme, rather than the end of this month.
The extension follows two earlier decisions by the housing department to extend the deadline by which housebuilders had to reach practical completion of homes in order to take into account difficulties faced in the last year by firms getting materials to site.
Help to Buy, under which purchasers of qualifying new build homes are granted a 20% equity loan as a deposit to buy their house, has supported the sale of 375,000 homes since being set up in 2013 and loaned more than £105bn to home buyers, according to government figures.
The new guidance said that housebuilders will have to apply to take advantage of this latest extension and secure a declaration signed by an executive director at Homes England.
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