4,000 local authority houses lie empty

Thousands of local authority houses are empty while the numbers of families on waiting lists and falling into homelessness grows.

On average, 3.2% of local authority homes, more than 4,000, are empty, around 75% of them awaiting repairs before they can be offered to a new tenant.

It takes an average of more than six months to get them repaired and relet with some authorities taking over a year.