The number of construction companies defaulting on their COVID loans has risen sharply, Construction News has revealed.
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Construction News writes:
Data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that nearly 40,000 construction firms had defaulted on their bounce-back loans up to the end of October, amounting to 15 per cent of all such loans issued to the sector.
Another 679 building companies defaulted on the higher-value Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILs)…
The construction sector received 17 per cent of all CBILs loans when the scheme was operational. In total, 14,688 loans were issued to building firms, worth £4bn.
Bounce-back loans were smaller loans worth up to £50,000. A total of 260,912 were issued to construction companies, worth £7.68bn.
Commentators said the rising number of defaults reflected the strain on contractors’ cashflow…
