Following up a pledge by prime minister Gordon Brown to increase the supply of affordable housing by 2020, government department Communities and Local Government (CLG) has announced that it is evaluating its current supply of surplus land.

Anyone looking to purchase new homes in the central belt of Scotland may be interested to read about the search for surplus sites which could be deemed suitable for residential building work.

So far, 470 sites have been identified to contribute towards the 240,000 new homes to be built yearly until 2016, CLG reports.

Housing minister Yvette Cooper commented: "We need to build more houses for the next generation, and we've made clear that brownfield sites are the priority for this.

"This is why we've been working with the Department for Transport to identify further surplus sites and I am delighted that we can today announce 470 sites that could contribute to the pressing need for more homes."

Meanwhile, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has commented that Mr Brown's target of three million new homes within the next three years actually represents a reduction in the rate of housebuilding currently being undertaken.