Coronvirus loan schemes – update as part of winter economy plan

From my initial reading of the material released for the ‘Winter Economy Plan’, there were two categories of announcements made in connection with Coronavirus Loan Schemes.

Extension to application dates

The closing date for the three Coronavirus business interruption loan schemes and the Future Fund has been extended and are now all aligned to 30 November 2020.

As the schemes were announced at different times, they previously had different closing dates, with each scheme originally open for applications for a period of six months – 30 September (CBILS and Future Fund), 20 October (CLBILS), and 4 November (Bounce Back Loan Scheme).

We will keep an eye out for more detail, for example with clarification on whether this the date is when applications need to in with an accredited lender or the date by which offers have to be accepted.

Pay as you Grow (and other announcements re payment of Coronavirus Loans)

From the speech itself, it would appear the following measures will be put in place:

There is a bit more detail on interest only and payment holidays under Pay as you Grow at link where it says UK businesses will have the following options:

• to move temporarily to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months (an option which they can use up to three times)
• to pause their repayments entirely for up to six months (an option they can use once and only after having made six payments)

Also, it is noted that support also continues through the COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility which will remain open until 22 March 2021. This is where a company has exhausted all other options and is of strategic importance to the UK; the government may also consider providing bespoke financial support.”

More details

As soon as we know more detail on these announcements, we will update this blog.