The waiting list for housing at Bradford Community Housing Trust has now grown to 32,000 - and they are all chasing just 150 properties.

It means that, on average, more than 200 people are in competition for each home operated by the district's biggest landlord.

The waiting list for housing at Bradford Community Housing Trust has grown by more than 2,000 in the last three months alone.

With almost 700 people a month signing up, Bradford's housing register is the second longest in England. Only Sheffield's is larger at 72,604 people.

The Bradford list, published by Housing Minister Yvette Cooper, shows seven per cent of the district's households are waiting for a property.

But BCHT today said it was "working hard" to meet the demand in the shortage of affordable housing and said it had let 2,724 properties in the last year.

A spokesman said the figure of 32,000 was potentially misleading because self-registration means some people may be registered twice, while others may have found homes outside BCHT and not informed the organisation.

He added: "Throughout the UK, there is a shortage of affordable homes and people are struggling to afford to buy their own homes or afford private rented accommodation, which in turn has created a demand for our properties."

He added: "Our five-year investment programme of £178 million takes our properties beyond the Government's Decent Homes Standard.

"We are now working in partnerships with other organisations to build new affordable homes available for both shared ownership and to let."

The waiting list figures come only days after the Government revealed Bradford has one of the highest number of privately-owned vacant homes in the country.

According to official Government figures, 8,000 homes stand empty - 4.9 per cent of the private housing stock in the city.

The Government has now unveiled plans to allow local authorities to seize, renovate and lease for seven years homes left unoccupied by their owners for more than a year.