A new scheme has been launched by the government which will see grants handed out to first-time buyers and key workers.

Gordon Brown unveiled the plans, which are designed to help people onto the housing ladder.

Grants of up to £1,500 will be made available and the prime minister said that 30,000, mostly affordable, homes would also be built.

"We want to do more for people who may need an extra hand to buy their first home," said Mr Brown.

"By offering new grants and sharing a stake in their home, we are making the dream of a new home more affordable for thousands of low-income first-time buyers and key workers such as nurses and teachers," he added.

Although the plans have been welcomed in many quarters, the government has been accused of not going far enough with the scheme.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) public policy officer James Rowlands said: "To increase affordability more widely, the government must take action to boost house building levels by ensuring more land becomes available for development, empty homes are brought back into use and more family homes are built."