FIFTY homes in the Cotswolds have been sitting empty for two years or more.

The figures, uncovered through Freedom of Information requests to all UK councils by the Liberal Democrats party, show that there are 296 homes across the district that are sat empty.

Of these, 50 had been empty for two years or more, 13 of those for five years or more, and seven of them have stood empty for at least ten years.

In response, Cotswold District Council chiefs admitted "concern" about the lack of affordable housing, particularly in Stow.

Liberal Democrat leader on Cotswold District Council, Cllr Joe Harris said: “At a time when the homelessness crisis is worsening and you see more and more people are sleeping out in the cold on our streets, it is a scandal that so many homes locally are sitting empty.

“We believe that the Government needs to urgently review the current system which is clearly not working and Cotswold District Council needs to be given the powers and resources to bring empty homes back into use.

“It is shameful that CDC doesn’t appear to have used its existing powers to end this scandal. Some local families are homeless because of Conservative inaction and ineptitude.”

Cotswold District Councillor for Stow, Dilys Neill, a Liberal Democrat, said: "Hundreds of units for elderly people have been given planning permission in Stow recently which will benefit wealthier older people but we haven’t seen affordable hosing for the rest of the population.

"These empty homes could be turned into affordable places to live for those that need it across the Cotswolds.”

Cllr Stephen Hirst, cabinet member for housing at Cotswold District Council said: "We have a mandatory duty to house the homeless and we are increasing our efforts throughout the district to bring empty homes into use; in order to do this we have employed more officers to spearhead this important activity.

" In the past private landlords have preferred to leave their properties empty rather than housing the homeless or those in imminent danger of becoming homeless.

"We shall be concentrating our efforts to bring these houses into the district's housing stock so that we will have a ready supply of homes for those people who unfortunately are made homeless.

“We have recently carried out a survey of rough sleepers in order to determine the size of this problem in Cotswold District and we have ascertained that we have only one rough sleeper - and this is through personal choice.

"However, we will continue to keep a vigilant eye on the issue to ensure it does not become worse.

“We have been concerned about the lack of affordable homes in Stow-on-the-Wold for some time and recently met with members of Stow Town Council and Cllr Neill to discuss the situation.

"There is a real need for more new homes in the town so that affordable homes can follow and, working with the Town Council, we are pursuing a number of ways to increase new housing provision.

“We are aware that the Government is looking to change the policy on long-term empty homes and give Local Authorities the power to charge a 100% premium on Council Tax.

"CDC already charges a 50% premium and we will review this once the Government has passed the relevant legislation.

“Although the powers of Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMO) are available to us, like many other authorities we have assessed that the amount of work involved is very intensive and would put a severe strain on our resources should we go down that route.

"Furthermore, acquiring additional legal support to process EDMOs would prove to be extremely expensive for taxpayers”