398 homes sit empty and unused in Northampton

These include 70 homes which have been unoccupied for more than two years, and 51 which have been unoccupied for more than five years.

The numbers were uncovered by a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrat party.

“At a time when the homelessness crisis is worsening and more and more people are sleeping out in the cold on our streets, it is a national scandal that thousands of homes across the country are sitting empty,” said the party’s leader Vince Cable.

“The government needs to urgently review the current system which is clearly not working.

“Councils need to be given the powers and resources to bring empty homes back into use.”

Northampton Borough Council pledges to fill hundreds of empty Northampton homes and make renting easier

Comparatively, in Northamptonshire, there are 426 vacant homes of which 126 have been empty for more than two years.

In South Northamptonshire Council’s area, 184 homes are currently empty with 21 unoccupied for more than two years, 12 for more than five years, and 15 for 10 years or more.

Elsewhere in Corby, 60 homes are unoccupied including 36 for more than two years, 28 for 5 years or more, and 17 for more than 10 years.

On a national level the figures show that 216,000 homes have been empty for six months or more, including 60,000 which have been empty for two years or more, and over 11,000 have stood empty for at least ten years.