The number of empty homes in Brighton and Hove has almost doubled in the last decade, new census figures show.

Census figures from the Office for National Statistics show 9,770 of 130,840 total dwellings in Brighton and Hove were unoccupied on census day in March 2021.

It meant the number of empty homes almost doubled in the last decade, from four per cent in 2011, when the last census was undertaken, to 7.5 per cent in 2021.

In England, the proportion of unoccupied dwellings has soared during the last decade, with 1.5 million (6.1 per cent) empty homes littered across the country – up from 4.2 per cent in 2011.

The census took place during the coronavirus pandemic, and the ONS expressed caution that some unoccupied dwelling figures may be inflated due to people living with parents, overseas residents returning home, and other lockdown-related restrictions such as travel.

Luke Murphy, associate director for energy, climate, housing and infrastructure at think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: "The shortage of homes is putting pressure on rents and pushing home ownership out of reach for many, so it's concerning that the number of unoccupied homes rose in England and Wales over the past decade.”

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing and homelessness charity Shelter, said filling every empty property would not solve the shortage of affordable homes.

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"If we can fill empty homes we should, but we will never solve the housing emergency without building a new generation of good quality social homes that local people can afford to live in," she said.

A spokesman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said local councils should be using existing powers to convert empty properties into homes.

“They can increase council tax by up to 300 per cent on long-term empty properties, take over empty homes by Compulsory Purchase Orders and Empty Dwelling Management Orders, and convert commercial buildings to residential without the need for a full planning application,” they said.

“We have delivered over 2.2 million homes since 2010 and reduced the number of long-term empty homes by more than 30,000 over the same period. We are investing £11.5bn to deliver tens of thousands more affordable homes across the country.”