Help? Corona and Help to Buy

Jennie-1987

Hi,

Thank you for any help you can give - I understand this may be a horrible "wait and see" kind of situation.

My boyfriend and I (First Time Buyers) excitedly entered into buying a new build property in the last 6 weeks and everything was going very well with reservation made, solicitors instructed, Help to Buy Equity Loan and mortgage applied for with all supporting evidence. Unfortunately, we received a response back from H2B advising because our apartment building is scheduled to complete March/April/May/June/July 2021 we are not eligible for the loan which as of the current scheme requires you to building complete on or before 28/02/2021 and legally complete on or before 31/03/2021. This home was sold to us as part of the Help to Buy scheme with an intended completion of by March 2021 due to Covid-19 delays. The reservation portal stated it could be later as per the above but it also said Freehold and that's not the case so we checked things through the solicitor and Mortgage broker - both recommended by the developer and known to be working on other H2B applicants for the same build. Now we are in limbo as the Mortgage Brokerage talks to Homes England but the current Coronavirus extension to our scheme only covers those that reserved prior to June 30th - we didn't. Are we going to lose our flat? Are we going to have to wait until next year to reapply for our H2B Loan and mortgage under the new scheme? What does that mean for our credit score and wouldn't it make sense to keep the mortgage agreement given it'll be the same property with the same valuation and we will begin repayments at the same time? Does anyone have extra (hopefully comforting) information they can provide while we wait the eternity of the bank holiday weekend? For example if you're going through this too but had it happen at the start of the week so you actually have a response from Homes England.

mobilejo

Did you reserve the flat mid-July? What was the estimated completion date at the time? Are you saying that the estimated date has been pushed back since you reserved it?

Jennie-1987

Hi, we reserved 29th July and face-to-face the completion date was end of February but the reservation portal said May/June/July and we thought nothing of it given the other issues at odds with what we knew to be true and that builders tend to go over/project further. It was well known that this was being bought under Help to Buy and was being sold as such.

Jeremy535897

I don't think that you will be able to take comfort from what anyone could say on this forum, unless there is someone in exactly the same position, but a week earlier. The chances of that are small. I would suggest that you take the time you have before Tuesday to read every word of every communication you have had with your solicitor, H2B, the developer and everyone else. Put a file together with all documents, texts etc printed out. Check what has recently gone on your credit files, if anything. Sit down together and recall as best you can any verbal exchanges and write those down too. Decide on your plan on Tuesday. Who will you call first? Get all the addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers together.

Is anyone you know in the same position as you are in your block of flats? If so, talk to them.

Jennie-1987

Update!
From Developer:

I have spoken to Mortgage Broker, unfortunately the meeting with New Homes England was a fruitless conversation , as the Government have still not given guidance on how they  the wish to proceed.

This situation will obviously be resolved , we just need to have a little patience, so my thought process is we just carry on with the sale and legal work and we can leave the HTB in the background.

I understand this is a frustration , but it will sort itself out.  If/when I have an update,  I will come back to you with it . if you need anything else please just ask.

Jennie-1987

From us to Developer with Solicitor and Mortgage Broker in recipient field:

This is so concerning for us because there are strict deadlines and consequences that should the process follow the same structure as the current scheme could mean we need to fully complete 6 months after the exchange date. We really want to continue with the sale but if we do not have the Help to Buy Equity Loan its not possible for us to afford the flat and we are assuming Developer will not lower the price by the difference! Then there are legal costs which would be adding up as well. We were sold the property with it falling under the current H2B scheme and timelines, is it not at all likely the build will be finished by the end of February now?

Can you please tell us what other people are doing in our situation? What exactly did Homes England say? It would really help to know if they offered any insight into when we can expect guidance or their opinion on this building having been run under the current H2B requirements.

Solicitor/Mortgage Broker - Can you please advise us on how you think we should proceed where our H2B loan application has been halted as they state our sale does not fall under the current requirements? We are very grateful to have you assisting on our purchase.

Thrugelmir

The 2021-2023 HTB scheme will open this autumn for applications. 
Not long to wait. 

HopeAndDriftWood

Jennie-1987 said:

face-to-face the completion date was end of February but the reservation portal said May/June/July

Have you got ANYTHING in writing about February? Anything at all? 
I haven't seen much of the actual paperwork, but I have a close friend buying through Help To Buy right now, and the advice through lockdown has constantly been that as she can evidence that the flats should have been completed in time, the Government would make allowances and her HTB loan would be okay. I don't believe she's had official confirmation yet, but she might have, we haven't caught up on it in a while. That would feel like the most logical course of action from the Gov/Homes England, but it wouldn't help you if officially all of your dates are after the date you'd have needed for HTB anyway... 
I hope someone that you've emailed comes back with some helpful information soon, the waiting must be painful. I'd be expecting some private advice from the solicitor about what your best options are right now, if you've got any.