The Bounce Back Loans Scheme (BBLS) and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) will be extended ahead of the second national lockdown, it has been announced.
Businesses will now have two extra months to make applications after the initiatives were extended to the end of January 2021.
Deadlines for applications to the schemes, which also include the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) and the Future Fund, had been due to end on 30 November 2020.
As part of the changes, HM Treasury will also adjust the BBLS rules to allow those businesses who have borrowed less than their maximum – less than 25 per cent of their turnover – to “top-up” their existing loan.
This option will be available to businesses just once, said the department, explaining that “some businesses didn’t anticipate the disruption to their business from the pandemic would go on for this long”.
“This will ensure that they are able to benefit from the loan scheme as intended”, it added.
According to the latest statistics, more than £62 billion in financial support has been delivered through the Government’s Covid-19 loan schemes as of October this year.
This includes 1,336,320 Bounce Back Loans worth £40.2 billion, 73,094 loans worth £17.2 billion through the CBILS and 623 loans worth £4.6 billion through the CLBILS.
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