More than 1 million families are reportedly stuck on local authority waiting lists for social housing in England as the number of council homes has slumped to a record low.

Analysis done by the housing charity Shelter shows that a total of 1.15m households were on waiting lists last year. At the same time only 290,000 homes became available, leaving a shortfall of more than 800,000 homes across the country. Two thirds of these families had been on waiting lists for more than a year, while more than a quarter of them had been waiting for more than five years, often in unsuitable or temporary accommodation. Waiting times in some London boroughs and seaside resorts like Blackpool and Brighton have now grown to beyond 10 and 15 years, with no early resolution in sight.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference in Manchester, Terrie Alafat described the housing situation as “a national disgrace”. She said tackling homelessness had to be a top priority for the Government and she called for the right to buy policy to be suspended. Shelter says the main factors causing the current shortfall are the lack of new affordable homes being built by councils and housing associations, coupled with the continuing sale of properties through the right to buy scheme. Only a fraction of the sold properties are being replaced while many others are re-let privately at much higher rents.

Polly Neate, Shelter’s chief executive, said the fact that some survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire were still homeless a year on from the disaster had “totally shaken people’s trust in the safety net the state supposedly provides”. She called for a bold new plan for social housing so families are not condemned to waiting lists but given safe, secure and affordable housing as quickly as possible. “Imagine how frustrating life must be for the millions of people across the country who have been stuck on waiting lists, often for years on end,” she said. “This is not just confined to London but it is happening right across the country, from Brighton to Blackpool. Families are unable to get settled and unable to get on with their lives.