HOUSE building has surged across Worcestershire - with more than 2,500 built in just one year in a property bonanza.

Your Worcester News can reveal how new house building has virtually doubled in two years, with the county's rate of development outstripping the rest of the UK.

New Government data reveals how in the 2014/15 financial year 2,590 new homes were built in Worcestershire, including 460 in Worcester.

The figures are at their highest since 2004 and it means over the 12-month period the county has seen 550 extra properties made available, as the overall figure was 2,040 in 2013/14.

The latest results are also 96 per cent up on the 1,300 new Worcestershire homes built in 2012/13, and 26 per cent up year-on-year.

Experts say the figure reflects a gradually improving economy which has led to more developers finding the money to invest.

It also comes on the back of concerted pressure from the Government for local authorities to push more development, including the creation of the emerging South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP), earmarking land for 28,370 properties by 2030.

In October Prime Minister David Cameron said councils which fail to get their own local plans agreed face ministers coming in to do it for them.

Worcester MP Robin Walker said: "These figures are excellent news, showing the number of houses available in Worcester has risen giving a boost to the number of homes available for hardworking families and individuals."

Nationally, in 2014/15 there were 170,690 more homes available to buy, up 25 per cent in a year.

Worcestershire's overall figure of 2,590 in 2014/15 also included 260 in Malvern, 860 in Wychavon, 210 in Bromsgrove, 340 in Redditch and 460 in the Wyre Forest.

Worcester's figure of 460 includes 260 affordable homes.

The city's tally would have been helped by the 80-property estate at St George's Lane, the former Worcester City FC ground developed by St Modwen.

The figures are all 'net' ones and take account of old properties converted for other use.

Some people who rent around Worcester say they want to see the trends continue.

Doug Padgett, 58, of Hathaway Close, Dines Green, said: "For so many people they still can't get out of putting their money towards rent, whether it be private or social housing, due to the prices of buying.

"I suppose the good news is that developers are out there prepared to build."

The National House Building Council has said 2015 is on track to be a "strong year".

Mike Quinton, the chief executive, said: "The industry remains upbeat and is working hard to build the number of homes our country so desperately needs, despite the pressures associated with rapid growth."