Prime Minister David Cameron brought forward the launch date of the scheme three months from January and participating lenders are now expected to launch products in the coming weeks.

State-backed Lloyds Banking Group will offer mortgages through Halifax while Royal Bank of Scotland will distribute Help to Buy products through both RBS and NatWest brands.

However, Your Mortgage understands that RBS/NatWest will initially restrict Help to Buy mortgages to direct to consumer channels only, rather than via mortgage advisers. This bucks an existing trend in that the lion’s share of most government schemes are arranged by mortgage intermediaries.

Accepted wisdom has it that using expert intermediaries to arrange mortgages for these schems makes sense given the level of complexity involved.

An RBS spokesperson offered no reason for the decision but said the lender expected to offer Help to Buy products through NatWest Intermediary Solutions by the end of the year.

Ross McEwan, incoming RBS group CEO, said of the scheme:

“Despite the economy recovering, we know many families are finding it tough to get a mortgage deposit together. We are committed to helping as many people as possible across Britain to get on with their lives, to buy their first home, to move to a bigger house as their family grows.

“That’s why RBS fully supports the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme and we welcome news that it will be launched soon.”

Lloyds Banking Group confirmed to Your Mortgage that it would offer products through direct and intermediary channels from launch.