ANGRY district leaders are demanding answers from a major national bank, after it claimed that five per cent of the authority's housing stock is vacant.
The Halifax survey, released this week, named Alnwick as one of eight local authorities in England which have the highest numbers of empty council houses.
But that has sparked outcry, because the council says no-one from the bank actually contacte
d them to verify the figures.
And they have branded Halifax's findings as 'totally untrue'.
In the report, Halifax calls on the government to extend the reduced five per cent rate of VAT for restoring an empty home to all properties vacant for more than six months.
Currently this is just for properties vacant for more than 2 years.
Commenting on the findings, Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, said: "It is concerning that the existence of empty homes remains a significant problem in a number of areas, particularly in the North of England.
"In some cases, the proportion of empty homes is more than double the national average."
A table contained in the report puts Alnwick District as second highest, claiming that 6.7 per cent of its public dwellings were vacant in April 2007.
That's almost five times the national average.
It also put the number standing empty at 297, out of a total of 4,456.
The problem for Halifax, the council says, is that the district actually has just 1,764 homes.
A spokeswoman for the council said: "We have asked the Halifax to explain where this information has come from as it is unhelpful for such an inaccuracy to be perpetuated.
"Of our 1,764 homes, none are vacant.
"Six are currently undergoing repairs and upgrades but these have been allocated and the new tenants are waiting to move into them.
"Five per cent of 1,764 would equate to about 88 vacant properties.
"That is totally untrue."
The full article contains 323 words and appears in Northumberland Gazette newspaper.
