THOUSANDS of homes were sitting vacant in Buckinghamshire amid an ‘intense’ housing crisis.

Almost 2,000 Buckinghamshire homes were empty for more than six months amid a national housing crisis leaving scores of people trapped in temporary accommodation across England.

New data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) revealed at least 1,986 homes liable for council tax in Buckinghamshire had been unoccupied for at least six months at the most recent count in October.

This means the number of homes gathering dust for at least six months in Buckinghamshire has increased by 4 percent from 1,914 last year.

The properties deemed long-term empty were among a total of 5,581 empty homes counted in October in Bucks.

Use the interactive map below to see how Buckinghamshire compares with rest of the country. 

Chris Bailey, national campaign manager for Action on Empty Homes, said: "After more than a decade of intense housing crisis it is shocking to see long-term empty homes in England rise to 250,000 – another 11,000 more wasted empties, while nearly 100,000 families are trapped in temporary accommodation, costing the nation over £1.5 billion pounds a year.

"A new national empty homes programme is long overdue – the Government needs to step up to the plate and offer funding and incentives to get these homes back into use."

He added that long-term empty homes are a "huge missed opportunity" to create new jobs through low-carbon retrofitting.

Hundreds of Buckinghamshire families are trapped in temporary accommodation, separate DLUHC figures showed.

A total of 94,870 households lived in temporary accommodation at the end of June, including 323 in Buckinghamshire.

A DLUHC spokesperson said the Government is "taking action to get empty homes back into use" and added that the number of long-term empty homes is lower than when records began in 2004.

They said: "The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill gives councils power to apply the 100% council tax premium on properties left empty after a year, rather than the current two years. This will provide local leaders with additional flexibility to help address the impacts of empty homes."

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