People who were due to move home during the coronavirus lockdown have been advised by the government to delay where possible and to ‘adapt and be flexible’.
To support this, lenders will provide home movers who have exchanged contracts the option to extend their mortgage for up to three months.
According to the new government guidelines, issued as social distancing measures were introduced to limit the spread of coronavirus, people who were due to move to a vacant property can continue with the transaction. However, they must adhere to guidance on removals.
For those movers who have exchanged contracts but are moving to occupied properties, the advice is to delay where possible. In this case, the government said, all parties should work together to agree a new date or to resolve the matter.
Where moving was unavoidable for contractual reasons and no agreement could be made on a delay, then people must follow advice on staying away from others to avoid spreading the virus.
Mortgage support
UK Finance, which is the body representing banks, and the Building Societies Association, said mortgage lenders would be supporting those people who had exchanged contracts by offering them extensions on their loans.
They will now be able to extend their mortgage offer for up to three months so they can move at a later date.
They also offered reassurance to anyone whose situation changes during this time scale.
They said if the terms of the house purchase changed significantly and continuing with the mortgage would cause house buyers financial hardship, lenders would work with customers to help them manage their finances as a matter of urgency.
Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, said many people looking to move home were facing significant stress and uncertainty due and current social distancing measures meant many house moves will need to be delayed.
“It is clearly not appropriate for people shielding or self-isolating to move home. Therefore where chains contain people in these groups, lenders, conveyancers and other professionals are working together to enable these customers’ moves to be delayed,” he said.
“Where people have already exchanged contracts for house purchases and set dates for completion this is likely to be particularly stressful.”
Robin Fieth, chief executive of the Building Societies Association (BSA) said: “People who would have been preparing and expecting to move house in the coming weeks now face a wait until Covid-19 restrictions can be lifted.
“Our hearts go out to them and our heads are clear that it would be unfair for these people to have to start their mortgage application all over again once life returns to a more normal state. A three-month extension of existing mortgage offers seems a fair and reasonable step to take.”
Click here to read the government’s advice for home movers in full.
