HOME hunters are being offered free public school education for their children as an incentive to buy.

A developer is offering to pay school fees up to £12,000 for houses costing upwards of £576,000 in the Craigmount area of Edinburgh.

It is the latest example of incentive selling that follows offers of free designer wallpaper, cars, boats and holidays along with properties.

Miller Homes said it would offer the same amount of cash back to anyone who did not wish to take up the fees offer.

The move is seen as shrewd target marketing, coming at a time when 25% of all secondary children in the city attend independent schools, the highest proportion of any city in Scotland and one of the highest in the UK.

Among those to be educated privately in Edinburgh is Prime Minister Tony Blair, who attended Fettes College, where fees for the senior school range from £7442 for each of three annual terms for boarders and £5280 for day pupils; and £5389 for boarders and £3442 for day pupils at the preparatory school.

Public schools within a four-mile radius alone include Mary Erskine's, Daniel Stewart's and Melville College, St George's, St Serf's, Fettes College, Merchiston Castle and George Watson's.

A spokesman for Miller Homes said: "For those wishing to attend the local comprehensive school, Craigmount High is less than a mile from the development and has an excellent reputation.

"Basically, upon settlement, Miller Homes will give the buyer £12,000 cashback, meaning they can budget for school fees in whichever way is most convenient for them."