More than 100 people on Scarborough housing waiting list are in unsuitable homes

The housing charity Shelter has expressed outrage at families across England left in desperate need while councils are “haemorrhaging” thousands of social homes.

Scarborough Borough Council had 138 households on its waiting list who were identified as staying in unsanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory living conditions at the end of March 2019.

They formed part of 1,748 households on the list, according to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government statistics – although this was a 19% decrease from the total number waiting a year previously.

The opposite pattern was seen across England as a whole, where the number on waiting lists rose by 4%, to 1.2 million.

Of those, more than one in five were being forced to wait in substandard accommodation.

The charity is calling for investment in a new generation of social housing to be reflected in the Government’s forthcoming Budget.

A government spokeswoman said 141,000 new social homes had been created since 2010.

She added: “Last year we delivered more homes than any year in the last 30 years and will deliver a million more in this parliament.

“We abolished the borrowing cap so councils can build more social homes, giving families the chance to find somewhere safe and secure.”