A third bank has committed itself to participating in the second round of the government’s Help to Buy scheme.

Aldermore has now promised it will also be taking part in the initiative, following in the footsteps of the state-backed Lloyd’s Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The firm’s managing director of residential mortgages Charles Haresnape said: “Aldermore will be involved in the scheme, it is just a question of what the date is.”

He added that it was a “real shame” that the company was originally working towards a deadline of January 1st, 2014 – the date the scheme was supposed to have been launched on.

However, prime minister David Cameron revealed at the Conservative Party conference on Sunday (September 29th) that he intended to bring it forward.

The idea behind the second phase of Help to Buy is that it will allow borrowers applying for a mortgage with a five per cent deposit to purchase a property worth up to the value of £600,000 – with the government guaranteeing up to 15 per cent of the loan.