On the 8th February, the government announced that businesses that have taken out the government=backed Bounce Back Loans to help deal with the COVID-19 impact, now have greater flexibility in terms of repayment.
What has the chancellor announced?
The key aspect of the Chancellor’s announcement is that loan borrowers will be able to delay all repayments for a further six months. There is also the option to pause repayments after the first repayment, rather than the original rule where it was after six repayments had been made.
Pay as You Grow
The newly announced Pay as You Grow, will allow borrowers to extend the loan length from six years to ten years.
The additional support of Pay as You Grow allows borrowers to tailor repayments to their individual circumstances – allowing for more time and greater flexibility when repaying loans.
Who will this be available to?
These new measures will be available to the over 1.4 million businesses that took out a loan through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.
Features of the Pay as You Grow scheme?
- Extending the length of the loan from six to ten years.
- Making interest-only payments for six months – with the option to use this up to three times throughout the duration of the loan.
- Pausing repayments entirely for up to six months.
You can find more information about the new measures announced here on the gov.uk website.