More than 400 homes sitting empty and unused in Mid Sussex district

These include 69 homes which have been unoccupied for more than two years, and 27 which have been unoccupied for more than ten 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 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.”