The Government has released statistics which show that more than 150,000 properties have been sold to buyers who have made use of the ‘Help to Buy’ mortgage guarantee and equity loan schemes. Nearly 80 per cent of those sales were to first-time buyers and the average price of houses bought by them was significantly below the national average.

The ‘Help to Buy ISA’, launched in December 2015, has also already attracted more than 250,000 subscribers. Using the ISA enables first-time buyers to obtain up to £3,000 from the Government by way of a bonus when they use savings to purchase a property.