Help to buy - authority to exchange delays

BECTAP2020

Hi 
Me and my partner reserved a new build towards the end of July and have had mortgage offer from the bank approved and authority to proceed from Help to buy but we have been waiting ages for the authority to proceed, our solicitor said she uploaded the relevant docs on 04/09 and we are still waiting to hear back... I also feel that the house builders are dragging their heels with the completion of the inside of our house until exchange has gone through, is that normal? 
Has anyone else experienced a wait this long? I can fully imagine they are overloaded with work but our solicitor said it would originally take around 7 working days?!
I believe we are Agent 3 if that helps.
Many thanks 
Becca

bumblebee23

I know there are huge delays with the HTB equity loan scheme. Currently, HTB agent 3 website displays the following:

"We are receiving a high volume of Help to Buy: Equity Loan applications, following the easing of COVID-19 lockdown measures.

As a result, it is taking us longer than we would expect to process some documents. We are currently working within the following timescales:

• Authority to Proceed: 26 working days
• Authority to Exchange: 23 working days
• Confirmation to Developer: 2 working days

LCHO Applications we are working within the SLA of 4 working days

In line with government advice, our teams are working remotely. We are unable to receive and process documents sent by post in a timely way. To avoid unnecessary delays, please use our online service to submit applications."

The good news is that last week it was saying 28 working days for ATP and 46 working days for ATE - so they are catching up a little... we got lucky and got our ATP within a week but now we are being held back by Santander for the mortgage. I think the whole process is just a lot slower than normal... you'll get there

berkshirelass

We are in exact same boat. Been waiting since 3 Sept for our authority to exchange and our authority to proceed runs out in 11 days! Did you hear anything yet?

berkshirelass

After 27 working days we finally got the ATE 

Graeme1978uk

Makes me very grateful we are in the North, had ours last week and it was about 7 working days!