City leaders in Newcastle are bidding to urgently bring 50 void council homes back up to standard every week to help combat a housing crisis on Tyneside.

Local authority bosses are hoping to embark on a rapid restoration of empty properties across Newcastle, as 10,000 households wait to be allocated a new home. Newcastle City Council recently took back control of its housing stock from Your Homes Newcastle, which has now been abolished, and councillors were told on Thursday that a mass repairs programme is being embarked upon to help cut that waiting list.

Labour cabinet member Paula Maines told a scrutiny panel that officials were aiming to put 50 void properties back on the social housing market every week, calling it a “serious issue” and saying that the council had “inherited quite a few” from YHN. The civic centre later confirmed that, of the approximately 25,000 council houses in Newcastle, 963 are currently vacant.

452 of those are void and awaiting repairs, 250 are in the process of having work carried out or being allocated to a household, and the remaining 261 are unavailable for other reasons – such as structural problems or them being used as temporary, short-term accommodation. Liberal Democrat Wendy Taylor said the size of the council’s housing waiting list was “horrendous”, with 9,980 households on the system as of July 15, and that the issue of voids needed tackling to help meet the demand.

Coun Maines replied: “We have appointed people to look at voids and see if we can get a quick turnover. Some just need decorating and cleaning, but some are in a much worse situation. I think we are looking at around 50 per week in terms of getting those back on the market.”

Newcastle was one of 20 councils that recently wrote to the new Labour government to demand action to fix a “completely broken” housing system. They have urged Sir Keir Starmer to enact drastic reforms and deliver significantly more funding, including an “urgent” £644 million rescue package, to build new council homes and repair existing properties.

The campaigning authorities also want to see an overhaul of Right to Buy rules, which allow council homes to be sold into private ownership at a discounted rate.

Coun Maine added: “We are always trying to get more and more houses. We have to try and squeeze as many for-rent houses out of developers as we can, but we just don’t have enough housing. That is one of the reasons why myself and 20 councils wrote to the government saying that if they want all this housebuilding and council housing, where is the money for it?”

The council has promised to conduct a detailed survey that will reveal the condition of every single council house in the city and has promised to visit all of its tenants. Vicky McDermott, the council’s new director of housing and communities, said “I’m excited to be launching this programme of home visits.

“We need to get to know our residents better, understand the demands on our housing stock and ensure our housing services meet the needs of our residents now and in the future.

“We manage 24,000 properties across the city, estimated to be home to more than 50,000 residents, so it’s no small task and will take some time. However, we are ambitious in our plans and think this will be a crucial step in delivering better homes for our residents.”