PRESSURE is mounting to cut a sharp growth in empty homes in Oxford – as the city’s homeless crisis continues to spiral.

The latest figures obtained by the Oxford Mail show more than 300 homes have been unused for more than six months, dozens more than almost a year ago.

The upward shift across the city comes despite the ongoing pledge from councils to tackle the issue of long-term empty properties.

However, there has been a demand for more to be done sooner to fill properties which have stood empty for years, such as 83 Cowley Road which has been out of use for more than 20 years.

Across the county, thousands continue to languish on housing waiting lists, while many are forced to sleep rough on the streets.

In the last decade, no compulsory purchase orders have been made in Oxford while only three empty dwelling management orders, which sees the authority run the property, have been made.

Oxford Housing Crisis member Debbie Hollingsworth, who also works at homeless shelter The Gatehouse in Woodstock Road, said with up to a hundred people thought to be sleeping rough in Oxford more action was needed.

She said: “My blood is boiling to think that almost a year has gone by since the last figures and it doesn’t appear much has been done about the long-term empty homes.

“You only have to walk through Oxford city to see the amount of people sleeping rough and almost building their own little homes in a shop doorway somewhere.

“To think there are still 300 homes sat empty is shameful.”

In response to the figures, Oxford City Council reaffirmed its commitment to getting empty homes back into use and said during 2016/17 there were 22 homes brought back into use via the council although far more were added.

Ms Hollingsworth added: “It is not all down to the council and there is a lot of stuff they are trying to do.

“More needs to be done to help simplify the process of helping landlords get homes back into use and we need to give it some sort of limit before council’s take action.”

Housing expert and Oxford University professor Danny Dorling put the recent spike partly down to difficulties in selling houses and an ageing population.

He said: “The market is at its peak and so people are having trouble selling homes.

“This could be, for example, people whose parents have died and they are trying to sell but can’t, so it sits empty.

“Or people trying to sell once they have moved on. They have moved homes for a new job somewhere and then can’t sell their old home so it sits empty - whereas before it would have gone very quickly.”

Professor Dorling said particularly in Oxford he would blame houses prices, which in the city was at an average of £424,800 in June, according to online site Hometracker.

He added: “The reason there are slightly more empty homes is because people are trying to sell but they are selling more slowly.

“Or even holding off on selling their homes, so the market has stalled.

The city council leader Bob Price said: “We have an empty homes unit which whenever we have empty homes the unit pursues them, they are put on a register and we try to bring them back into use.

“But obviously it takes a long time to bring about a compulsory purchase orders, for example, and we are doing that with one home that has been the source of a lot of problems over the past 12 or 13 years.

“It is not a simple process.”

He added: “We haven’t got a major problem of empty homes unlike some parts of the country, so it is not a particular priority [to change the process] but I do think there is still the case for simplifying it.”

The figures also showed that in Oxfordshire overall there are currently 1,839 homes sat empty, a drop from 2,030 from the end of 2016. This has come in South and Vale and West Oxfordshire while there has been a rise in Cherwell.

This drop has been achieved despite official action because it is seen as last resort and not always the most effective way to bring homes back into use.

West Oxfordshire cabinet member for housing Colin Dingwall said: “Empty Dwelling Management Orders, for example, are administratively complex, subject to exemptions and potentially costly for the council to enforce.

“We have introduced a premium to be paid where a dwelling has been unoccupied and unfurnished for more than two years and will work with owners to ensure properties are brought back into use as quickly as possible.”

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils spokeswoman Sam Marlow added: “There are a number of measures in place such as empty home loans to help homeowners bring properties back into use and a rent deposit guarantee scheme which can assist finding tenants for empty homes.”

Cherwell District Council spokesman Thomas Slingsby said: “In Cherwell’s experience, owners do take action when they are made aware of the powers the council has at its disposal.”