There are currently more than quarter of a million long-term empty homes in the UK with a disproportionate number of them in the North East.

The most deprived area of the country, with the greatest need for affordable housing, has over 50,000 homes not in use.

Data shows that the areas with the highest number of empty properties are Middlesbrough, Durham and Gateshead.

The Action for Empty Homes charity has highlighted how the problem has grown since the last national government empty homes programme ended.

Across the country, the number of wasted long-term empty homes has gone up by 30 per cent.

"It's shocking to see so many areas blighted"

Chris Bailey, National Campaign Manager at Action on Empty Homes, said: “In a national and regional housing crisis it’s shocking to see so many areas blighted by long-term empty homes. With particularly high levels in Middlesbrough, County Durham, Gateshead and Sunderland.

“Newcastle and Northumberland also have high numbers of properties out of use with second homes and Airbnb-type holiday lets also a factor in those two cases.

“Wasted long-term empties have risen 30 per cent since the last national government empty homes programme ended and we hope the new Government is going to make up for the mistakes of the recent Conservative ones which have ignored this ready supply of vitally need homes.”

Here is an overview of how many out of use homes are in your area:

  • Darlington - 1,966
  • Durham - 10,583
  • Gateshead – 3,584
  • Middlesbrough – 2,857
  • Newcastle – 5,950
  • Sunderland – 5,262

The new Labour government has emphasised that they will “get the country building again”.

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "Councils have a range of tools at their disposal to bring empty homes back into use, including charging additional council tax on vacant properties.

"We are committed to helping people onto the housing ladder by building 1.5 million homes and delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation."

Action for Empty Homes believe that rather than building new properties we should instead use the large supply of empty homes to deal with the housing crisis.

Mr Bailey added: “At the moment we are hearing a lot about building new homes to solve the housing crisis, but it's no good if we keep on building the wrong housing. Big executive homes in the greenbelt are no more likely to house the homeless than luxury riverside penthouses or coastal holiday flats.

“In recent months we have been joined by all the major housing and homelessness organisations, and by local councils, in calling for Government funding to target bringing more existing empty homes back into use. We want to see these wasted homes used to house the homeless and both Shelter and Crisis have published dedicated reports on how this could be achieved.

“Just last week Shelter’s new report "Brick by Brick: A Plan to Deliver the Social Homes We Need" also called for a new Empty Homes programme to boost supply quickly, because even if Government can build 1.5million homes its going to take a while, and we've got one million empty ones already built and waiting to be occupied just in England.”

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Michael Kelleher, head of planning and housing at Durham County Council, said: “We recognise the impact empty homes can have on communities and are committed to bringing these properties back into use – a commitment that is set out in our proposed new housing strategy.

“Last year, 210 empty properties were brought back into use in County Durham and our ongoing work to tackle the issue resulted in us securing five awards at the Empty Homes National Conference.

“Activities include identifying suitable properties and investing in them to bring them up to a decent standard, and engaging with our partners to identify the most appropriate action for complex properties, including enforced sales if required. We also provide advice, support and financial assistance to the owners of empty properties to help bring them back into use.”