There are more than 300 empty homes in the Maldon district, while the country suffers an accommodation crisis.

Official figures reveal the number of long-term empty homes in the district has risen from 248 to 303 over the last year - up 20 per cent.

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 257 of them in Maldon 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."