There were 1,460 home purchases using the guarantee scheme between 1 April and 30 June 2013 – almost twice as many as the previous quarter.

Under NewBuy, all potential homebuyers (except buy-to-let investors and second home owners) can buy a new-build house or flat with only a five per cent deposit, subject to appropriate mortgage underwriting criteria.

Housebuilders and the Government contribute to an indemnity fund, which is used to pay out the lender if a buyer defaults or where there is a shortfall if the property is repossessed.

A Home Builders Federation spokesman said NewBuy offered an alternative to Help to Buy for buyers who did not want to go down the shared equity route. He said:

“Brokers should be very aware of NewBuy. It is about providing that suite of options.”

The NewBuy scheme has no official end date. However, the scheme could be dropped should the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme prove more attractive, the spokesman acknowledged.

The second part of Help to Buy is due to launch in January 2014.

The total number of NewBuy sales this year hit 3,749. The government, which along with the builders acts as a guarantor, has liabilities of £38.4m. So far, no costs have been incurred.

The Help to Buy equity loan scheme opened in April 2013. Within three months, nearly 7,000 properties were reserved under the scheme and more than 1,000 sales were completed.

Lenders including Nationwide, Santander, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and NatWest all offer NewBuy mortgages in England.