RESIDENTS are suffering from an 'acute shortage' of affordable housing in Ellesmere Port.
With more than 3,000 people on the borough council waiting list for homes, only 375 could be housed last year.
The figures were released by Rob Selby, the authority's director of housing services, in response to claims made by the mother of a homeless man.
The woman, who does not want her or her son to be named, told the Pioneer: 'My 33-year-old son has been on the housing waiting list in Ellesmere Port for 15 years.
'He's now sleeping rough on the streets of the town because he can't get anywhere to live.
'We've been to see the people at the housing department but they cannot get him into anywhere, not even emergency accommodation, because they are all full.
'There is no room at my house for him either so he's now been sleeping rough on the streets of the town for the last three weeks.
'The council says they have too many people on the housing waiting list.'
In response, Mr Selby said he could not discuss the details of this man's case because he had not given his permission for them to do so.
Speaking generally, Mr Selby said: 'There is an acute shortage of affordable housing in the borough.
'There are currently more than 3,000 people on our Home-seekers' list. Last year, the total number of properties of all types that became available for reletting was only 375.
'We are tackling the problem by maximising the number of affordable properties in the borough through planning agreements with private developers and partnerships with housing associations.
'By doing this we should see an increase of about 300 affordable homes in the borough over the next few years.
'In addition, we want to ensure the best possible use is made of vacant properties that do become available.
'We have set up a working group of councillors and tenants to review the way the current housing allocations policy works and to recommend changes that may be necessary.'
