COVID-19 loans

The Winter Economy Plan brings change to the small print on the government’s temporary Covid-19 loan schemes.

The Bounce Back Loan scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Future Fund will all now remain open for applications for longer than originally planned. You can now apply for any of these up until 30 November 2020. The Bounce Back Loan scheme, for example, can be used to provide finance between £2,000 and £50,000. Information about the schemes can be found on the British Business Bank website here.

The Winter Economy Plan also gives greater flexibility around repayment. For the Bounce Back Loan, there is a new ‘Pay as You Grow’ repayment system. This gives the option to repay over a longer period, now up to ten years, effectively reducing monthly repayments by nearly half. Interest-only periods of up to six months will also be offered. This option can be used up to three times. There will also be the possibility of pausing repayment entirely for up to six months. This can only be done once, and only when six payments have been made. CBILS lenders will also have the flexibility to extend the length of loans from a maximum of six years to ten years if this facilitates repayment.

 

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