HOUSES in York are among those offered to first-time buyers under the Government’s NewBuy scheme, builders Taylor Wimpey has announced.

Under the initiative, people who have not bought houses before and who have a good credit status will only need a five per cent deposit to buy a newly-built house.

Mortgages under the scheme are only available through Barclays, Natwest and Nationwide at fixed-rate interest deals ranging from 4.29 per cent to 5.99 per cent.

Debbie Whittingham, Taylor Wimpey’s regional sales and marketing director, said: “We welcome the NewBuy scheme as we believe it will go a long way in helping a wide range of buyers who have had to put their dreams of getting on or moving up the property ladder on hold due to the size of deposits required by mortgage lenders.”