Empty homes scandal

7.56.47pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 28th Aug 2006

There are more than 700,000 empty homes across the country. 100,000 households are in temporary accommodation and untold numbers of homeless people could benefit from these empty homes.

Building new homes rather than refurbishing old ones releases more CO2 and uses up green field sites.

In Brighton and Hove 3,761 properties currently lie vacant, although this has been reduced from 4,051 over the 12-month period after a high profile initiative.

This summer, Liberal Democrats are calling for local people to report abandoned properties causing a nuisance in their area so that they can be so that they can be dealt with by local councils.

Launching the campaign, Dan Rogerson, Liberal Democrat housing spokesman, said:

"We need community action to identify properties that are causing a genuine problem in their area, so that they can be reported to the council.

We are encouraging people to report empty properties that are causing a nuisance in their area, attracting vandalism and antisocial behaviour.

What we definitely don't want is heavy-handed Labour councils seizing people's homes while they are away for six months."