<p>The practical completion deadline for the existing Help to Buy scheme will now be extended by a month to the end of March, Homes England confirmed today (January 15).</p> <p>Following discussions between the Home Builders Federation and government, the government agency Homes England stated that it would not enforce the “First Longstop Date of 28 February 2021”, giving housebuilders an extra month to reach build completion on their equity loan transactions for the current scheme. </p> <p>Practical completion can be reached at any point up to and including March 31.</p> <p>The deadline for legal completion remains as March 31. HBF said the legal completion date was now key for housebuilders and buyers to be eligible for the existing scheme. </p> <p>An exception remains – for homes reserved before June 30 where Homes England has already agreed to a further extension to legal completion, the legal and practical completion deadline is May 31. This reflects the impact of the first national lockdown on construction.</p> <p>In July, the practical completion deadline was extended from <span>the end of December to February 28 2021 following representations from HBF, with the coronavirus pandemic significantly affecting build programmes and the government asked to rethink the date.</span></p> …