Government further extends business support loan deadlines in wake of second lockdown

03-Nov-2020 - Last updated on 03-Nov-2020 at 16:30 GMT

Related tags Coronavirus lockdown loans Government

Application deadlines for the Treasury’s UK-wide programme of business support loans have been further extended following the announcement that England will move back into lockdown from Thursday (5 November)

Under plans confirmed by the Government yesterday (2 November), all four Government-backed Coronavirus loan programmes will now be open until 31 January 2021, having previously been set to close for new applications at the end of November.

This includes the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan scheme (CBILs) and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILs), which each offer 80% Treasury backing on loans made by commercial banks; and the Future Fund, a support programme that could see the Government take stakes in scores of fast-growing start-ups forced to take state-backed convertible loans.

The application deadline on the 'bounce back' loan scheme, which is only available only to the UK’s smallest businesses and gives 100% state backing to loans worth 25% of turnover up to £50,000, has also been extended until the end of January, with firms able to ‘top up’ their existing loan should they not have claimed the full amount available to them in the first place.

From this month the Government added that it would increase its UK-wide Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) so that claimants receive 80% of trading profits rather than the original 40%.

Payments will also be made more quickly with the claims window being brought forward from 14 December to 30 November.

Announcing England's second country-wide lockdown at the weekend, the Prime Minister confirmed that the furlough or Job Retention Scheme (JRS) would be extended for the duration of the new lockdown, covering 80% of employee's monthly salary up to £2,500.

However, trade bodies have demanded the Government provide hospitality businesses in England, which face at least a month of closure, with financial support that's proportional if not greater than what was available during the first lockdown.

UKHospitality said the viability of hospitability businesses across England is 'on a knife edge', while the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) warned that thousands of pubs and many of the breweries that support them could be lost without further Government help.

According to real estate adviser Altus Group, the second England lockdown will impact 37,616 pubs and nearly 27,000 restaurants.