In response to the growing demands of the market, Wienerberger has stated its intention to increase brick capacity by 200 million bricks between January 2014 and January 2015.

The company will implement the capacity increases by re-activating unused factories at Hartlebury and Ewhurst, investing in technology upgrades and overall creating 120 new jobs across the UK.

Harald Schwarzmayr, managing director of Wienerberger, said: "This capacity increase shows our absolute commitment to ensuring that enough new housing is built to meet the requirements of the market.

"The UK needs a minimum of 200,000 new homes to be built each year, approximately 35,000 more than will be started in 2014. With our capacity increases equating to approximately 25,000 homes each year, Wienerberger is capable of manufacturing the core material for more than 70% of that extra housing requirement needed.

"With our broad construction product portfolio catering for the entire building envelope - covering wall, roof and paving solutions - we believe we can make a strong contribution to solving the housing crisis, and of course we will ensure that we continue to offer our customers unmatched manufacturing service and a roadmap through sustainable construction with a fabric first approach.

"These are big numbers, and we hope it shows exactly how serious we are about giving our customers and the industry the best possible service. Likewise, we are very much aware that we need to attract more young people into construction, and the 120 new jobs created should help provide opportunities to the next generation of construction industry workers."