BOUNCE BACK LOAN SCHEME LAUNCHED TODAY

The government's Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) has launched today, allowing small businesses in the UK to apply for ?bounce back? loans of up to £50,000 (Financial Times, p2, £). The government is offering a 100 per cent guarantee on the loans to allow banks to advance the cash quickly.

Stephen Jones, Chief Executive of UK Finance, said:

?The Bounce Back Loans Scheme will help smaller businesses and sole traders rapidly access the finance they need by filling in a simple form online with an accredited lender.

?This builds upon the broad package of support that lenders are already offering to help SMEs through these tough times, including capital repayment holidays, extended overdrafts and billions of pounds worth of lending.

?Accredited lenders approved to offer Bounce Back Loans have worked at pace with the Treasury to get this scheme up and running by Monday, and staff are now focused on processing applications and getting money to businesses as quickly as possible.?

According to The Times (p36, £), the new scheme is offering loans on ?extremely generous terms?. The initiative consists of six-year loans of between £2,000 and £50,000 which are fee, interest and repayment-free for a year. After that, interest rates will be 2.5 per cent, regardless of which lender provides the credit. Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today, Stephen Jones, UK Finance CEO, said the affordability checks would "be lighter", but firms should still "think very carefully about their ability to repay the loan". Despite the government guarantee, banks are required to first chase firms for money if they do not repay the loan. Mr Jones said: "These are loans, not grants, so if a business is already indebted and taking on further debt, they should think carefully before making n application (BBC News)."

Separately, Mr Jones writes in The Telegraph (B4, £) about banks doing their ?duty? in the war against the pandemic and helping the country get through the current crisis. He outlines the work industry has done in getting funds to businesses through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), and how the BBL will help smaller firms access the funds they need while also highlighting that thousands of other businesses have also had their existing overdrafts increased, new loans and invoice finance extended, or received capital and interest repayment holidays on existing facilities.

PROPERTY INVESTORS CALL ON GOVERNMENT CHANGE RESCUE PLANS

A group of 30 property investors has come together to form the Landlords Union, which is calling on the government to change tack on its rescue plan for the high street and broader private sector. According to The Times (p34, £), the union's key concern is legislation enacted last month that bars landlords from issuing statutory demands and winding-up orders on tenants struggling to pay bills because of Covid-19. Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, and John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, held a conference call with the British Property Federation last week to discuss a deal that could include a grant scheme to cover some rent bills and a waiving of a tax on landlords with empty properties.

Meanwhile, the New Economics Foundation is calling on the government to suspend all private rents for three months as an emergency measure to protect those most at risk of losing their jobs (The Guardian, p33). Around 6.2 million adults are in work and live in privately rented accommodation across the UK. Although most stand to benefit from the government's Covid-19 job retention scheme or support package for the self-employed, the foundation found that 1.2 million would slip through the safety net.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Corporate confidence has suffered its largest quarterly drop on record, according to Deloitte's CFO Survey (The Times, p29, £).

The government has outlined rules for UK companies to relax lockdown, including installing protective screens and staggering shift times (City AM).

Senior figures in the City of London have urged the government to proceed with caution in easing the coronavirus lockdown, saying there should be a gradual reopening of the economy (Financial Times, p2, £).

Employers could use apprenticeship levy funds on digital training for homebound and furloughed staff under a proposed extension to the tax being considered by government (The Times, p33, £).

James Coney writes in The Times (p54, £) that a service like the government Tell Us Once scheme should exist in the private sector, and that banks are trialling a death notification service with Equiniti, a financial services company.

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