Struggling first-time home buyers in Eastbourne will benefit from a government-backed scheme to get them on the housing ladder.

About £400,000 has been set aside this year by housing group Orbit First Step to help people secure their first home.

People who can only raise 75 per cent of a home price through a mortgage or savings can apply for an equity loan for the remaining 25 per cent.

Repayments will not have to be made until the end of the loan period, which Orbit says will make it easier to buy on the open market.

Orbit First Step's Homebuy scheme is available only to council or housing association tenants or people on a council waiting list.

Providing more low-cost housing is a major aim in the Eastbourne area, where the average property costs more than £142,000.

The resort has many low income families, with the average male wage about £380 per week, well below the national average of around £450.

Average weekly wages paid in East Sussex have been the second lowest of any county or unitary authority in the South-East.

And the county also has a high rate of employees earning less than £250 a week, with about a third of jobs in Eastbourne paying less than this.

With about 70 per cent of jobs in Eastbourne paying less than the national average wage, buying a home is beyond the reach for many.

Orbit First Step officials say the Homebuy scheme helps make more rented accommodation available for others further down the line.

Sales manager Ira Jones said: "Homebuy is a government-backed scheme that enables people to buy their own homes even if they cannot afford the price on the open market.

"If someone can raise 75 per cent of the home price through a mortgage or savings, we will then give them an equity loan for the other 25 per cent.

"It not only enables people to get on the housing ladder but has the advantage of freeing up rented accommodation for other people."

Orbit First Step is part of the Orbit Housing Group, which manages more than 24,000 homes across the Midlands and South.

Homebuy schemes are running in the Midlands, the South-East and East of England.

Last year, first time buyers were given more than £2.5 million through the scheme.

For more details on the Homebuy scheme, call 08458 50 20 50 or visit www.orbit.org.uk/ofs