THE number of people waiting for a council house in Brentwood grew approximately ten times faster than the national average.
Figures from Brentwood Borough Council show that the waiting list rocketed from 777 in April 2004 to 2,514 in April 2011 – an increase of 223 per cent.
During the same period, the average for England rose by 28 per cent to 1.84 million, according to the homeless charity Shelter.
Between April 2011 and April 2012, the council's waiting list increased further, from 2,514 to 3,054.
The news has sparked criticism that the authority is failing to address people's housing needs.
Gabriella Clarke, 25, who lives in social housing in Rollason Way, said she feels lucky to have been offered a housing association property after spending 30 months on the waiting list.
She told the Gazette this week: "There is not enough affordable housing and quite often there is an attitude that there can't be poor people living here in Brentwood."
Hutton North councillor Russell Quirk said: "The Conservatives locally may have a disdain for those in need of social housing, but it is the council's responsibility to ensure that they act to provide housing when it is needed and not to neglect our residents in this appalling way."
The council's minority Labour group leader Mike Le Surf added: "This is a crisis and the only way we can get out of it is to build more houses."
A borough council spokesman said: "Our current revision of our waiting list will see a change requiring anyone on it to have a local connection.
"This will lead to the reduction in the waiting list where there is no such restriction currently."
