More than 48,000 households have been helped by the Government's flagship Help to Buy mortgage support scheme.

A total of 48,393 homes have been bought under the scheme and 82% of house sales have gone to first-time buyers, the Government said.

The figures include both the Help to Buy equity loan scheme which was launched in England in spring 2013 and the UK-wide Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, which was fired into action last autumn.

Both schemes allow people to move on to or up the property ladder with a deposit of just 5% but, unlike the mortgage guarantee initiative, the equity loan scheme is aimed at new-build homes only.

The figures continue to show that the scheme is having only a limited direct impact on parts of the country where house price rises are at their most heated, with the highest number of mortgage guarantee scheme completions being in the North West.

The average house price for both parts of the scheme, at £187,800, remains well below the national average house price of £265,000.

The local authority with the most Help to Buy completions has been Leeds with 763, followed by Wiltshire, Birmingham, Central Bedfordshire and County Durham.

Chancellor George Osborne said: "It's great to see that nearly 40,000 first-time buyers have been helped on to the housing ladder by the Help to Buy scheme.

"This is a key part of our long-term economic plan, which is supporting hardworking people to secure a better future for their families.

"Importantly, Help to Buy is also driving a big increase in house-building in Britain, boosting the construction industry and increasing housing supply."

Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest said they had helped 8,201 customers buy their home through the mortgage guarantee scheme in the period up to the end of June. The average purchase price was £151,822.

Overall mortgage applications to NatWest and RBS have risen 38% in the first six months of 2014 compared with the same period last year.

Santander reported more than 3,000 completions under the mortgage guarantee scheme in the first half of the year and more than 5,000 in the year to date. Four out of five properties had a value of less than £200,000, and 80% of borrowers were first-time buyers.

In the housebuilding sector, Redrow said today that Help to Buy accounted for 35% of private completions in the year to June 30, helping its profits rise by 91% to £132.6 million. It increased its number of staff by 21% or the equivalent of 230 full-time jobs during the period.

Today's figures reveal that there were 18,564 completions under the mortgage guarantee scheme and 29,829 through the equity loan element of Help to Buy. They account for just under 6% of houses bought in the last 15 months.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said the figures show that the schemes are being used to purchase moderately-priced properties, with no undue focus on any particular area or price bracket.

CML director general Paul Smee said: "It is reassuring to see the data confirming that Help to Buy is essentially delivering its intended objectives.

"The scheme is supporting new housing construction, and is being used extensively by first-time buyers to purchase average-priced properties in all parts of the UK."