The Conservative-led Essex County Council announced plans for a local authority mortgage scheme in February. This means the council would act as a guarantor for local first-time buyers, allowing them to apply for a mortgage from certain lenders with a 5% deposit.

However, UKIP has now ‘called in’ the plan for further scrutiny.

Essex Council UKIP group leader Roger Lord said the decision to oppose the scheme was taken at a local level but reflected his party’s national philosophy of the government living within its means: “The key thing is people shouldn’t be encouraged to take out 95% loan-to-value mortgages when they would otherwise not be offered a mortgage. They are taking a big risk.

“We have got very low interest rates at the moment they will inevitably go up at some time, sure as eggs are eggs. These people will struggle if interest rates go up.

“There’s a bigger question of affordability in house availability which local authorities can influence but can’t solve. That’s really a government problem and a bigger debate among the public about how much housing they will accept built.”

Essex County Council leader David Finch said the scheme was a tried and tested one already used by 93 local authorities: “What we are simply doing is providing through a mortgage lender a sum of money so that it can be used to offset their deposit requirements.

“We are not encouraging people to take out a 95% LTV mortgage. We are just trying to help people get on the property ladder. People who own property generally spend money on refurbishments and contribute to the local economy.”

Mortgage Solutions contacted UKIP’s national office but was told this was a local issue.

Middleton Finance owner Daniel Bailey said he had mixed feelings about high LTV mortgages: “People’s natural instinct in this country is to buy a home. I do not think we can ever quash it. My concern is where house prices are going – taking out such a big LTV, are they going to be in negative equity in a few years’ time?”