Young GPs who are overburdened with debt are finding it difficult to buy into practices, accountants have said.
Newly qualified doctors are being refused loans by some lenders, with many imposing more rigorous checks before agreeing to provide finance.
This could result in some retiring GPs struggling to sell their share of a partnership, partner at accountancy firm Dodd & Co, Jeanette Brown has warned. The first practical consequences of heavy student debt were loan refusals she said, after research by the BMA found final year students had an average debt of £22,821.
Ms Brown said she had given advice to two young GPs in recent months who had struggled to secure bank loans to buy into a practice. One of the banks asked for profit projections to be demonstrated, a measure which Ms Brown said she had not encountered before.
She said: “While many banks are still open for business as far as doctors are concerned, new partners may find their requests for buy-in loans turned down if they already have a combination of student loans, credit card debt and large mortgages.
“It’s a commonly held misconception that only low earners get into financial difficulties.”
Copyright © Press Association 2010
