FIRST-TIME buyers are being offered a 'rough guide' to getting on to the property ladder by a leading bank.

Abbey National's 'Rough Guide to Buying Your First Home' is a 100-page dossier designed to take the mystery out of buying a home.

The guide offers advice on everything from finding the right property to dealing with estate agents and solicitors.

It has been put together with help from the publishers of the Rough Guides series.

Abbey National will give out free guides to any first-time buyer who completes an initial mortgage interview with the bank, or who requests a mortgage-in-principle before they start house-hunting.