Nearly 8,000 regular armed forces personnel have been helped to buy a home by a government scheme since it started two years ago.

Just over £121m has been paid out to more than 7,900 applicants for Forces Help to Buy loans, according to the Ministry of Defence’s monthly statistics for July 2016.

The figures show a drop in first stage applications received in July (546) this year than the previous month (628).

It was also slightly lower than the average number of applications received since the scheme began in April 2014 (600).

First stage applications are those which pass initial eligibility checks and, as of July 31, the Government has so far received 16,786.

There were 344 second stage applications, which pass detailed eligibility checks, in July, which was also lower than in the previous month (425). The number of second stage applications is usually within the range of 200 to 400 a month.

The MoD release states: “After the large number of [first stage] applications released in the first month of the scheme (1,270), the number of applications has been fairly consistent over time.

“There is some seasonal variation, with fewer applications received in November and December each year.”

Graphs in the statistical document also show there were dips between June and July last year for first and second stage applications for the scheme.

The Forces Help to Buy allows regular armed forces personnel to borrow money to buy their first home or move to a new location.

They are able to borrow up to 50% of their gross annual salary, up to a maximum of £25,000. So far, an average of £15,200 has been loaned per claim.