Thousands of Wakefield homes are empty as councils told to find safe places for the homeless

The Local Government Association has raised concerns about the number of properties lying vacant across the country at a time of chronic shortage, after the Government gave councils a deadline to house people for the duration of the outbreak.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government figures show that 4,535 homes in Wakefield were empty at the most recent count in October – a seven-year high.

Of those, 1,652 were classed as long-term vacancies, meaning they had been unoccupied for at least six months.

The number of vacant dwellings in the area was higher than a year previously, when there were 4,402.

But there were still fewer than the 4,795 counted in 2004, the earliest year with comparable data.

Across England, there were 648,000 vacant properties last October – a seven-year high.

More than a third of these had been left gathering dust for half a year or more.

Housing minister Luke Hall wrote to councils last month, giving them a deadline of March 29 to ensure all “rough sleepers and other vulnerable homeless” were housed in appropriate accommodation.

But the LGA said some councils would need “urgent help” from the Government to house their homeless.

An LGA spokesman spoke of challenges faced and said: “It is concerning that so many homes are left empty at a time of chronic housing shortage, and allowing councils to charge up to 300 percent of council tax on long-term empty homes will help them to address this.”