West Lothian home-building applications up by 34 per cent

THE number of applications to build new homes in West Lothian has increased significantly.

A total of 496 applications to build new homes in the area were received by the National House Building Council (NHBC) in 2009 – a 34 per cent increase on the 369 applications submitted the previous year.

However, from October to December 2009, the NHBC received 1,965 applications to build new homes in Scotland, which represented an 87 per cent increase on the number of applications submitted during the same period in 2008.

West Lothian's executive for councillor development and transport, Martyn Day, said: "This is good news for local building companies."