WYRE forest District Council is set to receive a cash boost for helping to build new homes in the district.

The authority will get £1.25 million for 2014/15 from the Government’s New Homes Bonus scheme, which rewards councils for increasing housing stock.

The government matches the council tax raised from new homes built for six years, with extra funding for new affordable homes.

In the West Midlands, almost £80 million will be paid out to local authorities in 2014/15 out of a total of almost £200m since 2011/12.

Councils across the country have received more than £2 billion for delivering 550,000 newly-built homes and con - versions and bringing 93,000 empty homes back into use, including 409 in Wyre Forest.

The district council has seen over £2.75million in extra funding through the scheme, including £1.25mil - lion for the upcoming year.