Brighton and Hove is suffering one of the worst housing shortages in the South-East, Government figures have revealed.

The number of empty properties in the city has fallen from 2,483 to 2,167 over the past year.

But there are more than 5,000 people waiting for council houses.

Housing chiefs believe the figures show they are making progress in bringing homes back into use.

But they are demanding government help to provide more low-cost homes and to reduce property prices and waiting lists.

Housing minister Tony McNulty revealed yesterday that only 1.8 per cent of Brighton and Hove's housing stock is available.

Across the South-East, only Slough has a lower proportion of available properties.

The majority of the empty properties are privately-owned, rather than council homes.

The city council has worked with private landlords on its Filling The Empties campaign for the past decade.

An Empty Property strategy launched in March targets owners of empty flats above shops.

Councillor Pat Murphy, deputy chairman of the housing management committee, said: "Thanks to our initiatives, hundreds of empty properties have been brought back into use.

"We have real shortages, with 5,000 people on our list and only about 500 properties becoming available each year.

"Building our way out of the problem is probably no longer an option because of the lack of brownfield sites."

He said the council would lobby Parliament for the power to buy private properties if they have been left empty for 12 months.

Brighton Pavilion MP David Lepper has called for more investment in social housing.

He said: "There are real difficulties for young people struggling to get on to the housing ladder. I welcome promises of more funding."

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott promised an extra £1 billion to build 90,000 low-cost homes across the South-East by 2006.