A flagship Government housing programme has lent billions of pounds to house buyers, the majority of whom would have been able to purchase a property without the scheme’s support.

Help to Buy was launched in April 2013 by former chancellor George Osborne as a way of getting more first-time buyers onto the property ladder. It has been used to support more than 200,000 purchases.

However, a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) shows that three-fifths of users could have afforded a house regardless, even if it was not necessarily their ideal home.

Almost a third of all buyers, equivalent to 65,000 households, would have been able to purchase the exact same property without the support of the scheme.

The report also highlighted that thousands of high earners have taken advantage, with around 4pc of users having household incomes over £100,000.

The scheme helps users purchase a property with just a 5pc deposit thanks to a Government loan worth 20pc of a property’s value. The remaining 75pc is borrowed from a high street mortgage lender.

Government loans worth £11.7bn have been made under Help to Buy since its launch.