THE Scottish Government is considering how further demand for a scheme which assists buyers purchase a new home can be met after it was claimed it had almost run out of cash.

It was reported that three months after a new round of funding for the Help to Buy scheme began, all the cash for the central area of Scotland has already been allocated.

A total of £275 million had been pumped into the scheme, which provides financial assistance for those buying a new build property, by Holyrood ministers.

Demand has been "extremely high", the Scottish Government said, with more than 2,000 homes purchased so far using the initiative.

Homes for Scotland, which represents the housebuilding industry, said it was "frustrated but not surprised" by reports that funds for the scheme for this year are almost fully committed.

Tory housing spokesman Alex Johnstone claimed: "Because of mismanagement of Help to Buy by SNP ministers there are fears that people hoping to own their own home may lose out."

Help to Buy allows both first-time buyers and existing homeowners buying a new-build house from a participating builder to get up to 20 per cent of their purchase price.

The Scottish Government then takes out an equity stake in the property, which the buyer has to repay later.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman insisted all applications that had been approved so far under the scheme would proceed.