A bid to bring empty houses back into use is being made by Barry Sheerman.
The Labour candidate for Huddersfield has been working behind the scenes to trace the owners of empty houses, including one in Almondbury.
And he says he wants a government that will support local councils to identify houses that have long been unoccupied and either force the owner to bring them into use or compulsory purchase them.
Mr Sheerman said he and his team made efforts to trace the owner of one house in Almondbury that had been unoccupied for many years.
He said: “It’s a classic Victorian terrace right in the middle of Almondbury and structurally it is sound and it could be a beautiful family home.
“It has been unoccupied for many years, it took quite some time for us to find the owner and to be fair to them they came and cut back the overgrowth but it remains unoccupied.
“Firstly people shouldn’t have to put up living next to somewhere like that.
“And secondly, and most importantly, we have people who are homeless and living on the streets and there are houses sitting empty.
“I want a government that will tackle this.”
Asked about the council carrying out a compulsory purchase on the house, he said: “We need to give support to the local authorities to have a dedicated officer to identify unoccupied houses, how long they have been unoccupied and negotiate with the owners.
“If that fails the council should consider compulsory purchase but that is a lengthy process.”
Mr Sheerman cited the tragedy of Roxanne Davis, a Huddersfield rough sleeper who died earlier this year after contracting pneumonia.
Mr Sheerman says the number of people sleeping rough fell by roughly 75% between 1998 and 2009 under Labour, adding: “This trend has gone into reverse under the Tory government and has more than doubled since 2010.”
He said the figures didn’t show the true picture, with others ‘sofa-surfing’ or living in temporary accommodation.
In Kirklees 401 people were accepted by the council as homeless in 2015-16. This number was 35% higher than the previous year.
The government has introduced a Homelessness Reduction Bill, a Conservative bill which Mr Sheerman welcomes.
It is intended to reduce the number of people sleeping rough and will oblige councils to start assessing someone at risk of being made homeless 56 days before losing their home instead of 28 days.
Mr Sheerman believes government efforts with the Bill are contradicted by cuts to housing benefit for 18 to 21-year-olds.
