Following our previous blog “Help To Buy Scheme To End” there have been further developments. Housing minister Lucy Frazer has confirmed that the practical completion deadline has been extended by one month.
This has come from the construction industry explaining the various delays outside the home builder’s control. This includes supply chain and labour issues and thus a number of reservations would be at risk of missing the government’s Help to Buy deadline.
Therefore, if a property is going to miss the original Practical Completion date of the 31st of December 2022, this has now been extended to the 31st of January 2023. This forbearance is only available to customers who already have an Authority to Proceed (ATP) or Authority to Exchange (ATE) in progress. No cancelled applications will be reinstated, and no new or additional reservations can be submitted. Additionally, the clause of this is developers have to notify Homes England (in writing) by 20th of December 2022.
Home Builders Federation has commented “Homes England will shortly contact all developers with an active reservation, notifying them of the amended first longstop date. As part of the correspondence, developers will receive access to an online form requiring details of each individual reservation that will make use of the additional forbearance period. There will be no extension to the deadline for this correspondence of December 20, 2022.”
However, the final legal completion deadline of 31st of March 31, 2023, still stands, as confirmed by Lucy Frazer.
