Residents have to wait for a year to receive social housing, according to figures released by Powys County Council.

In a Freedom of Information Request to Powys County Council it has been revealed the average wait for a council house in the area is frequently over a year.

In the release it found the wait for a one-bedroom property was on average 395 days (nearly 13 months), for a three-bedroom property was on average a 360 day wait (just under 12 months) whilst residents looking to get a two bedroom property had to wait 420 days (nearly 14 months).

Even for a basic band one, one bedroom property the average wait time was 266 days (just under nine months).

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Powys County Council has said that the wait is due to the system being overloaded after years of under investment.

Councillor Matthew Dorrance, Cabinet Member for a Fairer Powys, said: “The county has approximately 9,500 social housing properties, of which 5,500 are managed by the council. However, demand for social housing has been increasing for years in the county and currently the waiting list is over 4,700.

“Homelessness has also increased, as people find it harder to find a home they can afford. Privately rented accommodation is in high demand and can be expensive. House prices are six times higher than annual salaries, making mortgages increasingly unaffordable.

“It has only been in the last 10 years that councils have been able to resume council house building after decades of inactivity.  The council has successfully built six council housing developments across the county in the last three years."

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Councillor Dorrance also added that the creating more social housing is a priority for the council going forward such as the project to build 32 one-bedroom flats on the site of the former Robert Owen House in Newtown.

“One of the priorities of the Cabinet is to tackle the housing emergency in the county and this can only be achieved by building high quality council housing,” added Councillor Dorrance. “Last month, we approved an ambitious plan to build more than 350 new council homes as part of an investment package worth almost £79m.

“We will also work with housing associations to increase the availability of social housing in the county.”