ANEdinburgh family have become the first people in Scotland to buy their first home with the help of taxpayers' money.

Stuart McKenzie and Carina Stewart, who had been living with their five-year-old son at a relative's house for a year, were able to split the cost of the property with a publicly-funded housing association.

The deal was the first arranged under the Scottish Executive's new Homestake scheme, which is designed to help first-time buyers on low incomes get on to the property ladder.

Mr McKenzie and Ms Stewart organised a mortgage for 62per cent of the GBP138,000 purchase price, and the Link Group housing association put up the remainder using a specific executive grant.

The couple, who yesterday showed the house to Malcolm Chisholm, the minister for communities and housing, intend to acquire the other 38per cent of the property in instalments.

So-called "split-equity" schemes also operate in England. However, Homestake is different in the way it targets first-time buyers on low incomes and, in an initial pilot in the over-heated Lothians, allows them to buy on the open market rather than limiting them to social housing.

To qualify, single people must be earning no more than GBP19,700 and families no more than GBP25,100, and must be able to arrange 60per cent to 80per cent of the cost of a fixed price property.

When a Homestake property is sold, the different owners split the proceeds according to their equity holding.

Ms Stewart, 28, a pensions administratorwho is expecting a second child in the spring, said the scheme had been "a saviour" for them.

She said: "Six months ago we couldn't have believed that by Christmas we would have our own home and have moved in. We were living with my dad in a one-bedroom f lat.

"With only me working there was no way we could afford prices in Edinburgh. The market in Edinburgh is ridiculous, especially for ordinary working-class people like us.

"I know a lot of people moving out because they can't afford it. We were thinking about moving to Fife."

The average house price in the capital is now around GBP190,000, or seven times the average wage.

Mr McKenzie, 33, a carpet fitter to trade, said the mood of their son, Ciaran, had improved markedly since they moved into their two-bedroomed house in Bonnyhaugh last week.

"The one-bedroom place was very cramped, " he said. "The wee man was getting very agitated and he could not really play, and we were at each other's throats constantly. But there's been a big change in him since we moved in."

He said that the stability of the new home had also allowed him to see more of his two teenage children from a previous relationship.

Alan Hume, an administrator for the Link Group which arranged the purchase, said 55 other applicants were looking for homes to buy through Homestake in Edinburgh.

He said that, though principally aimed at first-time buyers, the scheme was also open to older people, the disabled, and homeowners whose houses were to be demolished.

Mr Chisholm said: "This scheme has been specifically set up to help people who want to buy their first home but can't get a foot on the property ladder. . .Within three years, we aim to be helping around 1000 new buyers each year through Homestake alone.

"Homestake is part of our GBP1.2bn investment . . . to provide an additional 21,500 affordable homes - nearly 5000 of these are for low-cost home ownership."