Housing minister Lucy Frazer has confirmed a one-month extension to the practical completion deadline for the Help to Buy scheme with the Home Builders Federation.
The extension comes after discussions between HBF and the government, with the industry representatives explaining that supply chain and labour issues have meant that a small number of schemes could potentially miss the deadline.
Despite Homes England initially declining the extension request, conversations continued with DLUHC and led to the decision being reversed.
The extension applies to properties where a developer notifies Homes England (in writing) by December 20 2022 that it is unlikely to reach practical completion by December 31 2022, resulting in a new deadline of January 31 2023.
HBF stated that this will only be available to developers 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.
The letter from Frazer to the HBF outlines that the final legal completion deadline of March 31 2023 will not change. Developers will be expected to update Homes England with their progress, and those who do not expect to be able to complete by the final deadline must make their customers aware as early as possible.
HBF said: “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.”
The HBF is expected to acknowledge the terms, and the housing minister has also requested that the federation provide details on the number of homes completed and when any remaining homes will reach full legal completion.
