Men and women who have served in the Army, Navy or Royal Air Force should take advantage of a once in a generation opportunity to buy their first home with the help of newly released Government money, Warwickshire's leading housebuilder said today.

Barratt Homes is urging local Armed Forces personnel to sign-up for a new scheme called FirstBuy, which is designed to give First Time Buyers a route to home ownership at the lowest possible cost and with the lowest possible deposit.

The Government-backed initiative formally gives priority to men and women who have served in the Forces.

Barratt is topping up the offer for servicemen and women by giving them £500 of 'Choices' furniture vouchers for every £25,000 they spend on the house. And the housebuilder has set-up a special Armed Forces hotline for any personnel who are interested.

"In normal circumstances it can be very difficult for men and women who have served in the Forces to buy a home of their own because of the difficulty of raising a deposit and getting a mortgage," said Steve Barton, Sales Manager at Barratt Mercia.

"But this initiative means that First Time Buyers in Nuneaton now have the chance to move into a new home with a deposit of as little as £3,120. Armed Forces personnel who want to go to the front of the queue should call our hotline on 0844 815 6196."

"Barratt has been supporting the Armed Forces for many years by offering discounts on our homes and making donations to the Help for Heroes charity. Homes are getting more expensive so people serving in the Army, Navy or RAF may never have a better opportunity to take their first step on the property ladder."

Housing Minister Grant Shapps MP, unveiling the FirstBuy scheme, said: "If you have served in the military, that bravery will be recognised when it comes to housing."

The offer also applies to ex-Regular servicemen and women who have served for a minimum of six years and also to the surviving partners of military personnel who have died in service.

It isn't only the Armed Forces who will be eligible to take advantage of FirstBuy. Any household with a combined income of up to £60,000 qualifies.

Under FirstBuy, buyers will be offered a loan of up to 20 per cent of the price of the property, jointly funded by Barratt and the Government's Homes and Communities Agency.

The buyers then have to find the remaining 80 per cent of the price themselves. Up to 76 per cent of this could be a mortgage, leaving a deposit of just four per cent.

In practice, that means that anyone buying a double-bedroom coach house from Barratt Mercia priced at £78,000 under the scheme would potentially be able to get on the housing ladder with a deposit of as little as £3,120.

Barratt Mercia is currently building properties at its Bluebell development in Nuneaton, where prices range from £78,000 for a one-bedroom coach house to £150,000 for a three-bedroom family home. For more information, please contact the sales office on 02476 399 520 open daily from 10am to 5pm.

Alternatively, please call the sales hotline on 0844 811 9988 open seven days a week from 8am to 9pm or log on to www.bluebellnuneaton.co.uk or www.barratthomes.co.uk

Barratt Mercia has been confirmed as meriting the maximum five star official rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) for the second year in a row. The news was announced after more than 20,000 new home buyers across the country took part in this year's HBF customer satisfaction survey.

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

1) Bluebell is a partnership between Barratt Mercia, the Homes and Communities Agency, Nuneaton and Bedworth Council, Advantage West Midlands, Pride in Camp Hill and the Prince's Foundation. 2) For further information about Bluebell or Barratt Mercia please contact Hannah Elwell, Director of PR or Tom Lee, PR Account Executive on 0116 247 1777 or Hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk or tom@unsworthsugden.co.uk 3) Barratt Group sold 11,377 homes in the last financial year, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain. 4) Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the second consecutive year in the 2011 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey. 5) Barratt Group was named Housebuilder of the Year at the Daily Telegraph British Homes Awards 2010. 6) In 2010 site managers working for Barratt Group won the highest number of NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Awards for a record sixth consecutive year. 7) Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to guarantee the fixtures and fittings in place at the time of purchase of its new homes for five years. 8) Barratt Group is also one of Britain's foremost sustainable housebuilders. It has now started on site at the Hanham Hall development near Bristol which will be the first Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 community in the UK when it is completed. 9) Images of a selection of developments are available to the media at http://www.barrattdevelopments.co.uk/barratt/en/media/mediakit/lib 10) Pride in Camp Hill is a partnership project between Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council, Warwickshire County Council, regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, the Homes and Communities Agency, the Prince's Foundation and the residents and businesses of Camp Hill. 11) Its aim is to regenerate and revitalise Camp Hill creating a vibrant urban community through a series of initiatives focussing on physical improvements, health, education, training and community involvement. 12) For further information on Pride in Camp Hill, contact Joanne Hughes on 02476 399093, or email: joanne.hughes@prideincamphill.co.uk 13) The HCA is the single, national housing and regeneration agency for England. We bring together English Partnerships, investment functions of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities, with major delivery programmes of Communities and Local Government. 14) Our role is to create opportunity for people to live in high quality, sustainable places. We provide funding for affordable housing, bring land back into productive use and improve quality of life by raising standards for the physical and social environment. 15) For further information on the Homes and Communities Agency, contact Ian Dutton, Communications Manager on 0121 352 5443 or Sue Maguire, Consultant, Willoughby Public Relations on 07739 403952, or email ian.dutton@hca.gsx.gov.uk or suem@willoughby-pr.co.uk. 16) The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is the single national housing and regeneration delivery agency for England. The Agency's vision is to create opportunity for people to live in homes they can afford, in places they want to live, by enabling local authorities and communities to deliver the ambition they have for their own areas.