Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. A group of housing sector leaders has called for the government to launch a national strategy to bring empty homes back into use, amid record levels of people living in temporary accommodation and long waits for social housing.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. "They say they don't have enough homes, but look at how many empty ones there are - [the council] just doesn't want to fix and repair them," says mother-of-one Vanessa.