The Help to Buy practical completion deadline has been extended until March 17, giving housebuilders an additional six weeks to complete houses bought under the scheme.
This follows a previous extension announced in December by housing minister, Lucy Frazer, pushing the deadline from 31 December 2022 to 31 January 2023.
But with the deadline looming and building delays continuing due to a multitude of factors such as inflated building material costs, labour shortages and high interest rates on development loans, the government has listened to developers’ repeated calls to extend the completion deadline once again, despite ruling it out earlier this month.
Without the latest extension, hundreds of first-time buyers faced the prospect of losing their homes. A petition to extend the deadline had been signed by over 700 people and a Facebook group for buyers who were at risk of losing their houses had been set up, with close to 200 members already.
Nilesh Patel, managing director of Surrey-based Urban Resi Group, which has been part of the lobbying efforts, welcomed the government’s decision when speaking to FTAdviser.
He said: “This is fantastic news for buyers and developers. The government have listened to the concerns raised and acted decisively.”
“Hundreds of buyers across the country will now complete on their new homes. A positive boost to the housing market.”
A spokesperson for the DLUHC said: “Supporting aspiring homeowners is a government priority. We have extended the Help to Buy [practical completion] deadline to March 17 to make sure people do not lose out on their homes because developers haven’t met the building deadline.”
“Housebuilders must make sure they finish all building work by this date and the legal completion deadline remains March 31.”
Source: Show House News
