More than 11,000 homes across the country have been lying empty for longer than a decade, figures show.

The data, collected from freedom of information requests to local authorities also showed that 60,000 properties had been empty for two years or more while just one in 13 councils make use of powers that would allow them to take over properties that have been empty for at least six months.

Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said such properties should be used to provide homes for some of the most vulnerable in society and called for an urgent government review of the system.

“At a time when the homelessness crisis is worsening and more and more people are sleeping out in the cold on our streets, it is a national scandal that thousands of homes across the country are sitting empty,” he said.

The areas that responded with the largest number of homes empty for six months or more were Durham with 6,500, Leeds with 5,724, Bradford with 4,144, Cornwall with 3,273 and Liverpool with 3,093.

An analysis of government figures last winter showed that the number of empty homes in the UK had nearly doubled in 20 years, with more than one million homes above those which are required for the number of households in the UK.