THE war on empty homes – blamed for blight and housing shortages - is slowly being won across the region, new figures suggest.

The number of vacant properties in the North-East and North Yorkshire fell by almost 4,000 last year, to 45,846, a reduction of 8.5 per cent.

And there has been much faster progress in tackling long-term empty homes, a decline from 17,816 to 15,243 – a fall of 14.4 per cent.

Those homes, without occupants for more than six months, cause the greatest concern, because they fall into disrepair and attract anti-social behaviour.

In fact, long-term vacancies in the region are down by almost one-third on four years earlier, the figures also show – when the total stood at 20,020.

The areas recording the biggest falls include County Durham (from 4,466 to 3,843), Darlington (from 933 to 700), Middlesbrough (from 787 to 626) and Redcar and Cleveland (from 1,010 to 723).

In North Yorkshire, long-term empty homes are also in sharp decline in Hambleton (from 444 to 383), Richmondshire (from 361 to 282) and Scarborough (from 775 to 585).

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles was quick to claim the credit for the improvement, which mirrored an impressive fall in empty homes across England.

The Conservative pointed to a £235m scheme to revamp properties and new powers to force absent owners to continue paying council tax, as a deterrent.

Mr Pickles said: “I’m pleased to see that the efforts we’ve made to bring these homes back into use have helped bring the numbers down to a ten-year low.”

But Councillor Eddie Tomlinson, Durham’s Cabinet member for housing, pointed to local initiatives as the reasons behind the welcome shift.

He said: “Empty homes, particularly those which are vacant for long periods of time, can fall into disrepair and have a negative impact on an area.

“As well as offering support to landlords to bring their properties up to standard and get them back into use, we also have schemes offering incentives to people buying certain empty properties which they intend to live in for at least three years.

“We can also help landlords to advertise their properties for rent and to find tenants.

“We are working in partnership with landlords, housing providers and the government and we are delighted that we are seeing positive results.”

The latest statistics, published by the department of communities and local government, cover the 12 months between October 2012 and October 2013.

The only blot on the figures were increases in Sunderland, in both the total number of empty homes (up from 3,848 to 4,198) and long-term vacancies (from 1,503 to 1,572).