Local authorities are holding onto over 23,000 vacant residential properties - an average of 87 per council - new research reveals.
The freedom of information request to London, Metropolitan and District councils, conducted by the hybrid estate agency eMoov, found Labour councils account for over 70% of the vacant properties across England.
The council with the largest number of vacant properties in relation to the local population was Lewes District Council at 1.33%, the study claimed.
eMoov also notes of the 270 councils, 107 (40%) do not hold any vacant properties, 73% of which are Conservative majority councils with Labour accounting for just 16% of that number.
‘It’s quite frankly scandalous that in the current market climate those in charge of addressing the severe housing shortage are actually sitting on a potential solution or at least part of it,’ said eMoov founder and CEO Russell Quirk.
‘We’ve seen numerous plans and announcements by the Government to tackle the housing crisis and help the average UK homebuyer in previous years, all of which have amounted to little more than regurgitated rhetoric.
‘It would seem that parties across the entire political spectrum need to get their own house in order first and utilize the resources already at their fingertips, rather than investing in another failed housing initiative.’
‘It is certainly a worrying sign for UK buyers when Labour, the party that is supposed to be the one for people, is by far the worst offender in hoarding vacant council-owned properties,’ he added.
