A HUGE house-building programme must take place across Worcestershire if homes are to become affordable for younger people, a top MP has said.

Speaking to your Worcester News while at a Labour party forum in Dines Green this weekend, Liam Byrne, the Minister for the West Midlands, insisted the Government was right to push for a bigger increase in new homes for the region.

"We need a reality check here," he said. "You now need to be earning about £43,000 a year to buy a house. That means for many young people across the West Midlands, it's simply too hard to get on the housing ladder.

"We need to be building a home every half an hour for the next two decades - that's one of the biggest house-building programmes in British history."

Responding to concerns voiced by Mid-Worcesestershire Tory MP Peter Luff about the impact such development might have on rural areas, Mr Byrne said: "If you talk to people in the farming industry, they'll tell you one thing - it's almost impossible to buy a house as a young family in a rural community, because house prices are so high.

"We want to make it possible for these people to stay within their own communities, instead of being forced to move away simply to buy a house."