First-time buyers (FTBs) who miss the final Help to Buy (HTB) completion deadline could have to find an additional £52,218 to complete their purchase, research from Wayhome reveals.
The final deadline for Help to Buy is 31 March.
The HTB application deadline expired on 31 October last year but those who had already applied for a loan before the deadline were still able to benefit from the scheme.
Wayhome says it is currently unknown how many buyers could be impacted at present, however, “hundreds” have signed a petition calling for a deadline extension.
Those who fail to meet the deadline at the end of this month will no longer be eligible for the five-year interest-free loan.
They will also be required to find the additional funds that would have been fronted by the scheme in order to complete on their purchase.
While FTBs will have their reservation fee and deposit refunded, they will incur additional costs such as legal or financial advice.
Wayhome suggests that the average FTB who applied ahead of the deadline in October and utilised the full 20% HTB loan will need to find over £52,000 to fill the void and keep their property transaction afloat.
Failing to find the funds previously fronted via the HTB scheme would see first-time buyers forced back into the market and borrow an additional £27,330.
This will cost FTBs £38,621 more over their first five years of homeownership in the process.
Wayhome co-founder and chief executive Nigel Purves comments: “The HTB clock is ticking and those that are yet to complete on their purchase are running the risk of having the carpet pulled from beneath them come the end of March.”
“If they don’t complete in time, they face the huge task of finding thousands of extra pounds in order to keep their purchase alive.”
“If they fail to do so, they have no other choice but to let the transaction collapse, returning to the market in search of a new home which will also see the cost of homeownership jump dramatically.”
“Those that find themselves in this predicament will have a very tough choice to make and when doing so, they will also need to take into account the other non-refundable costs already incurred, such as legal and financial advice, as well as the time and stress of searching for a new property.”
