ALMOST 850 homes are standing empty in the Braintree district, while the country suffers an accommodation crisis.

Official figures reveal the number of long-term empty homes in the district has risen from 785 to 846 over the last year.

The figures cover the number of homes empty for more than six months, excluding those due to flooding or left by people in prison.

Nationally, more than 261,000 homes were long-term empty.

The number rose by five per cent and is the highest since 2011, excluding pandemic-related figures from 2020.

There were also over 263,000 properties registered as second homes, with 188 of them in Braintree.

Action on Empty Homes said the fact more than half a million properties are vacant or used as second homes, while more than 100,000 families across the country are in temporary accommodation, is a “national disgrace”.

Matt Downie, chief executive of the charity Crisis, said: “The country has been crying out for genuinely affordable homes for years now.

“With the number of households trapped in temporary accommodation at a record high, having thousands of properties sitting unnecessarily empty for long periods is an open goal for the Westminster government if it wants to bring these numbers down."

A government spokesman said: “We have reduced the number of long-term empty homes by more than 50,000 since 2010 by giving councils powers to bring empty properties back into use, delivering new homes for communities."