More than 1,000 properties are sitting empty in South Lakeland each year, while households in the area continue to be faced with homelessness, figures show.

Figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show there were at least 1,365 empty properties in South Lakeland at the most recent count in October – down eight per cent from 1,479 last year.

Of those, 913 had been gathering dust for six months or more, and at least 267 had been abandoned for more than two years.

The figures, which cover properties subject to council tax, also show 3,703 dwellings in the area were listed as second homes last month.

Different DLUHC figures show in 2020-21, 397 households in South Lakeland were entitled to council support after becoming homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Across England, the number of empty homes – dwellings that are unoccupied and unfurnished – fell by two per cent to 468,000, while the number of second homes dropped by four per cent to 253,300 after rising by the same percentage in October last year.

Owners of properties which have laid empty for two years or more can be charged an extra 100 per cent council tax on top of their bill – rising to as much as 300 per cent if the home has been empty for a decade or longer.

Nationally, around 72,000 dwellings were subject to a council tax premium in October, around a fifth of which had been abandoned for between five and ten years and ten per cent for more than a decade.

In 2020-21, councils across the country identified more than 268,000 households as homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said the country's housing emergency was ruining lives, adding that it was deeply frustrating to see properties sitting empty "when so many people are in desperate need of a safe and secure home".

She said more should be done to put empty homes back into use but added: "Even if we filled every one of these empty properties, we still wouldn't have solved the chronic housing shortage we face.

"The only way to solve the housing crisis is to build a new generation of green social housing."

A Government spokesman said more than 243,000 new homes were delivered last year, with £12 bn being invested in affordable housing over five years.

He said the number of empty homes had fallen by 30,000 since 2010, adding: “We have taken significant action to prevent empty homes.

"This includes giving councils stronger powers to increase council tax on empty homes and take over their management, and introducing higher rates of stamp duty and tightening tax rules for second homes."