Almost 600 homes are empty across Warwick district

These include 33 homes which have been unoccupied for more than a decade, 79 which have been unoccupied for more than five years and 188 which have been empty for more than two years.

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

Nationally 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.

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has said: “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.

“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.”

Warwick District Council has been approached for a comment.