Over 12,700 new Scottish homes were registered to be built in 2015, according to recent figures.

Data from the National House Building Council (NHBC) reveals a total of 12,755 properties were registered to be built for the year, up from 11,138 in 2014.

Overall, this represents a 15% increase from last year.

While the figure represents an eight year high for the country, numbers have still not returned to pre-recession levels of 20,617 in 2007.

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However, Malcolm MacLeod, regional director for Scotland at the NHBC, said the result is another 'promising' year for the country.

"Encouragingly both the private and public sector showed further improvement helped no doubt by the Help to Buy scheme," he said.

"Over 2016 it is expected that housing growth in the Lothians, especially around Edinburgh will continue and the completion of the Borders Railway Line could result in making development in the Scottish Borders more viable."

Overall, the number of new homes registered to be built in the UK topped 156,000 in 2015, a 7% increase compared with 2014.

(LM/MH)