THERE are more long-term empty homes in Pendle, on average, than any other borough in the country, new figures show.

But housing leaders insist they have made strides in tackling the problem.

Areas, including the Whitefield and Bradley in Nelson and the Railway Street area of Brierfield are being revamped by housing agency Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, formerly known as Elevate.

Around 2,000 homes in Pendle were said to be vacant for more than six months, out of a total of 34,614.

This was equal to 5.5 per cent of the total number of homes, beating Manchester, with 5.1 per cent, into second place.

The statistic was revealed following a parliamentary question by Caroline Spelman, the former shadow secretary of state for communities and local government.

Pendle Council housing regeneration manager Julie Whittaker said: “The league table on empty homes relates to 2008 and since then we’ve made a lot of progress. “This action we’ve taken includes appointing an empty homes officer last year and she has already made big progress.

“A year after appointing our empty homes officer we’ve now brought 80 empty homes back up to a high standard – and into use again.

“We’ve also used legislation from the new Housing Act to serve notices on more owners who’ve let their empty properties go.

“We also have an initiative called Improvement for Sale.

"In 2008/09 we bought 8 empty properties and made major improvements to them for re-sale.

"Over the last year we bought another 23 empty homes for improvement and re-sale.”