What is the 'Help to Buy' housing scheme?

Chancellor George Osborne has asked the Bank on England to take a bigger role in ensuring his Help to Buy housing scheme does not create a housing bubble.

The 'Help to Buy' scheme is available to first-time buyers and existing homeowners on properties worth up to £600,000.

How does it work?

• The first stage of Help to Buy, offering loans to buy a new-build home with a deposit of just 5%, launched in April
• Government loans up to 20% of property value, interest-free for five years, to boost a buyer's deposit
• Scheme credited with spurring a surge in home sales and driving up prices

• The second stage of the scheme, 'mortgage guarantees', is due to launch in January
• Will see state take on risk of default by borrowers by guaranteeing proportion of loan
• Scheme aims to boost mortgage availability by reducing risk for lenders
• Will be extended to existing homes, not just new-builds

• Criticisms include risk of creating housing bubble and piling huge housing risk on Government
• Pete Redfern, boss of Taylor Wimpey, said scheme could be a "hazard to the economy" unless a clear exit plan is laid out
• Former Bank of England governor Lord King warned scheme is "too close for comfort"