The Scottish Government says it will support a new scheme designed to help first-time buyers and others aspiring to purchase a new home.

Homes for Scotland, the home-building industry body, has been awarded £250,000 to enable it to work with lenders and builders to take forward the proposals.

It is hoped to develop a mortgage indemnity scheme that results in higher loan to value mortgages being available to those who can afford them.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), there has been a sharp fall in mortgage advances to first time buyers, from 35,300 in 2007 to 17,600 in 2010, a fall of over 50%.

Keith Brown, housing minister, said: “We want to do all we can to create new home owning opportunities for buyers who can afford mortgages