Mortgage applications worth £365 million have been received by the UK's major lenders in the first month of the extended Help to Buy scheme.

NatWest owner Royal Bank of Scotland has had 1075 applications, with three-quarters of customers looking to buy their first home. Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, has had 1309 applications.

The Government is offering £12 billion worth of guarantees under Help to Buy to encourage lenders to offer mortgages to credit-worthy home buyers with deposits as low as 5%.

A handful of lenders have launched products under the latest phase, led by the UK's state-backed banks but Santander and Barclays have announced their intention to join the scheme.

Halifax said the average property value of applications submitted in the first month was £160,157, with the first four weeks of the scheme generating applications worth £194 million.

More than 80% of the applications were from outside London and the south-east. More than four-fifths were first-time buyers.

Halifax Mortgage director Stephen Noakes said: "We're receiving a high level of interest but, more importantly, this is translating into full mortgage applications where borrowers are now well on the way to buying their homes.

"The applications show that through the scheme we're lending to borrowers who can afford a mortgage but, until now, have not had the necessary deposit."

Royal Bank of Scotland said 75 teachers and 83 engineers have applied for loans totalling £23.3 million.

The majority of RBS applicants are couples with a joint salary of under £50,000, borrowing around £159,000.