Furlough Extension and Additional Support
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that England will enter a second period of lockdown (currently until 2 December), the government have announced amendments and expansions to the recent financial support packages in response.
The main areas covered are the Job Retention (Furlough) Scheme, the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), Business Grants and Mortgage Holidays.
We will announce detailed guidance on the changes as and when we receive it, however the main points are as follows:
Job Retention Scheme
Originally due to cease on 31 October, the Job Retention (Furlough) Scheme has been extended throughout November (expected to align with the current lockdown dates to cease on 2 December).
All employees on the payroll by 30 October 2020 will be eligible for either full or flexible furlough, with the scheme mirroring the position back in August whereby the government will cover 80% of the employees’ wages (up to £2,500) and the employer covering the employers’ NI and pension obligations thereon.
The Job Support Scheme which was intended to commence on 1 November will now follow the extended furlough scheme.
Self Employment Income Support Scheme
This will continue as we announced last week, whereby an extension to support to the self employed for a period covering November to April by way of two taxable grants has been offered - the first covering November to January being 20% of three months’ worth of average monthly profits over the 2017, 2018 and 2019 tax years (up to a maximum grant of £1,875) and the second covering February to April with the amount TBC.
This has been increased from 20% to 40% - therefore the maximum amount available in the first round of claims will be £3,750.
Business Grants
Grants for businesses required to close as part of the tiered restriction system were recently announced as part of the Chancellor’s ‘Plan for Jobs’, however given the announcement of a national lockdown these will now apply to all qualifying businesses with an enhancement to the maximum entitlements as follows:
- Properties with a rateable value of £15k or under can receive up to £1,334 per month (or £667 per two weeks)
- Properties with a rateable value of between £15k and £51k or under can receive up to £2,000 per month (or £1,000 per two weeks)
- Properties with a rateable value in excess of £51k can receive up to £3,000 per month (or £1,500 per two weeks)
There have been no further announced changes to the administration of the grants to those we published last week whereby they are to be administrated, assessed and allocated by local authorities.
We have not yet been made aware of the application process however we would advise checking the website of your relevant authority for further information – we will of course publish further details as soon as we have them.
Mortgage Holidays
Like the furlough scheme, the Mortgage Holiday process was due to end on 31 October but has now been extended.
The FCA are due to announce further details today, but in short those that impacted by Coronavirus that have not previously had a mortgage holiday will be entitled to a six-month holiday and those that have already started one will be entitled to top that up to six months in total.
We will of course seek to provide further detail and updates on all of these and any other measures as and when we received the information.
If you have any questions regarding this or anything else please get in touch, and for regular updates, announcements and news please check our website (www.dsaprospect.co.uk) and make sure you’re following our LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dsa-prospect-ltd