A GROUP of entrepreneurs have launched a £30m venture that will help first-time buyers get on the property ladder.

Launchpad, based at Doxford Business Park, Sunderland, will buy properties for first-time buyers who will rent for 12 months before being given the option to buy the property, using the first year's rent as a deposit.

The scheme, the first of its kind, has been set up with the backing of Lloyds TSB and advice from law firm Dickinson Dees.

Sean O'Connor, 25, had the idea for the business after being a first-time buyer himself, and joined forces with businessmen Graham Smith, formerly of Lloyds TSB, and Kevin Wilde, a director of William Hill, to launch the venture.

Mr O'Connor said: "We will only buy a few homes on a development, perhaps the last three or four, so it does not have much of an impact (on house prices).

"Some buy-to-rent companies tend to purchase in bulk, which will affect prices, and keep them higher than they naturally should be.

"But we need to have first-time buyers coming on to the ladder to keep the market stable.

"The housing market would stagnate without them."

First-time buyers choose where they want to live, and Launchpad buys the home, renting it to them for a year, with no obligation to buy.

For more information, visit www.launchpadhomes.co.uk