Families at the bottom of the council housing waiting list in Kingston may have to wait 12 years to be given a home, according to homelessness charity Shelter.

There are 6,812 households on the list but only 83 new affordable homes were provided last year.

Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said: "These figures are extremely worrying.

"We all know that the recession has created a difficult climate for house building, and that London faces additional challenges due to its acute housing need and limited land availability in some boroughs.

"With more than 6,810 households on the housing waiting list in Kingston, the council must work even harder to provide significantly more affordable homes if they ever hope to meet the housing needs of their local population."

Last year it was revealed that the council owned a home that had been empty since July 24, 2000.

As of September 2009, the council had 92 empty properties, some of which were vacant because they needed substantial work and the council was trying to sell them off to registered social landlords.

Keith Broxup, Kingston Council’s interim head of housing, said: "The council is facing particular challenges in terms of providing the level of new affordable homes in the borough that are needed, not least in the light of the recent economic climate, but also because of other key factors such as the lack of available sites in the borough for new housing.

"Kingston is a highly developed part of London which also has large areas of green belt and metropolitan open land.

"The development sites which become available are typically small-scale with larger sites only becoming available very occasionally.

"Kingston also has high land values which means it is a relatively expensive place to develop."

The council has come up with a plan to improve housing which will be considered later this year.

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