JAMES Oakley, 32, a self-employed DJ and 'Sir James' pub quizmaster, and Annabel Perkins, 33, a financial analyst for Barclays, bought their first property in Firhill, Glasgow, last year under the Help to Buy scheme.

Mr Oakley said he was disappointed not to see any change in stamp duty threshold.

"There had been suggestions that was going to be doubled from £125,000 to £250,000 and I would have been pleased to see that because if we move up the ladder we will probably be looking to buy somewhere around the £125,000 mark," he said."It makes a difference when you've got that extra cost."

He added: "We were pleased with the Help to Buy scheme and I think it's probably a good thing that it's being extended, but there's a danger that the state is being used to underwrite the property market and potentially create another unsustainable house price bubble, which I think is a bit of a worry. We also used it to buy an old tenement flat, whereas the idea seems to be to stimulate house building.

"There's certainly areas in Glasgow that would benefit from regeneration but I think some of the problem we have in Britain compared to places in Europe is that new-builds don't seem to have as much space as older buildings. So when you look at the square footage, you tend to get more buying an older property, and often the quality is better too."