In a busy market, under much pressure it is great to see the government’s change of mind over the end date to their Help To Buy scheme.

The Government extension comes after thousands of buyers warned they could lose out because of Covid building delays that are likely to run past March 31.

The Government had previously stuck solidly to its assertion that the scheme would not be extended. But in the past year, buyers have been hit by severe delays due to contractors being furloughed and a lack of building materials.

In a statement, Homes England said:

Help to Buy will end on 31 March 2021, but homebuyers using the current scheme will have more time to complete their purchase. We are extending legal completion to 31 May 2021 due to delays caused by coronavirus. This allows an extra two months for homebuilders to complete the build and for homebuyers to legally complete and get the keys to their home.
Homes England

No more extensions

The government added …

There will be no more extensions, so we are asking homebuilders to continue to build at pace.
Homes England

Who does it apply to?

The extension applies to those already mid-way through a transaction.

Buyers looking to make a new purchase must apply for Help to Buy 2.0 which is now limited to first-time buyers and subject to regional price caps. It runs until March 31, 2023. Applications for previous scheme closed on December 15, 2020.

Driving your sales forward

Whilst this announcement relieves pressure on a busy housing market it will not change our commitment and activity working with home owners, house builders, conveyancers, agents and local authorities in driving forward all sales to completion.