Nearly 20,000 people are still waiting to be rehomed by local authorities across Kent with some families living in cramped conditions for more than two years as they wait for a home.

The longest individual wait recorded this year was nine years for a one-bed home for general needs in Dover.

And while that was the longest time recorded, the average wait across the county was a year-and-a-half, according to figures obtained by a KentOnline Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

There are average waits varying from eight-and-a-half months in Maidstone, to 16 months in Folkestone & Hythe, 20 months in Canterbury and 35 months in Tunbridge Wells.

Overall, the latest data recorded up until September this year shows there are at least 19,135 people still waiting to be housed across Kent and Medway.

The area with the highest number of people on the waiting list is Canterbury with 2,812 people.

The only area that has seen a decline in the number of people on the register over the last year was Gravesham with 1,075.

But councils were keen to stress that levels often fluctuate and those on different priority bands – ranked from A through to D – will see waiting times vary depending on their specific circumstances.

For example, the wait for a band B property – indicating serious housing need – in Dartford is one to two years for a one-bed flat and two to three years for a two-bed home. But those requiring a three-bed property or larger face waits of more than five years.

The shortest wait was in Medway, where on average people sit on the register for seven months for a two-bed property.

You must be given "reasonable preference" if you are homeless or fleeing violence, live in overcrowded or very bad housing conditions, or need to move for health or welfare reasons.

But dwindling levels of stock have heaped pressure on local authorities who house families and individuals according to a priority need banded system.

Meanwhile, many of those waiting who are priced out of the private rented sector are forced to live in poor-quality “temporary” homes with little security.

Cherina Turley, 29, and her partner Joe, 27, have been bidding for properties under Gravesham council for more than two years.

The accounts assistant, who works nearby in Dartford, fell pregnant with her first child in May 2019 and registered two months later.

Prior to that Cherina and Joe, a self-employed tradesman, briefly rented in the local area but found they could not keep up with the escalating costs.

"My partner and I both work, me part-time because of children," she explained. "We can’t afford private rent and have had conversations with the council where they agreed that we are £200 down each month.

"We put my daughter in nursery early so I could work easier but we have to pay £160 a month for that also as we get no benefits."

The couple have been allocated band C based on overcrowding, and every day Cherina bids on any two-bed properties that become available but finds demand greatly outstrips supply.

"I bid on everything we can but you’re lucky if there’s one property a week that comes on the Kent Homechoice website," she added.

"After bidding is finished it always says I came over 20. I have no idea what position I come but there are at least 150 other people that bid on the same property."

The pair are currently living with Cherina's parents in the Coldharbour area of Gravesend but the cramped conditions are far from ideal.

Cherina added: "We all live in one bedroom at my parents' house: myself, my partner and two children.

"I can’t even fit a second cot in my bedroom without getting rid of more furniture that we use to store clothes.

"My oldest is three in December. Is she going to start primary school and still be sleeping in my bedroom?"

Meanwhile, the exclusion altogether of certain people from social housing waiting lists masks the true extent of the crisis.

Charity volunteer Sharon Allman, 56, moved from Dartford to Gravesend in 2019 to be closer to her grown-up children.

She is classed as clinically vulnerable owing to a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart problems.

But a recent change in the council's banding rules means the mum-of-three, who is currently looking for shop or retail work, is unable to bid on properties until she has lived in the borough for at least three years.

"I will have been in Gravesend three years next month but it is only then I can start bidding on properties," she explains.

"I do want to work but it has to be something I can do at my own pace as having a lung disease means I get out of breath very easily."

According to the FOI responses given to KentOnline there are hundreds of social homes which remain vacant with some empty for up to two years at a time.

Ashford has the largest number of empty properties with 123 currently not in use, following closely by Canterbury (70) and Gravesham (57).

Of those unoccupied homes in Ashford, just under half (52) had been vacant for longer than a year, and 40 for more than two years.

When each local authority was queried on this, the most common reasons for vacancy were difficulty letting out the homes, ongoing repairs or they were due to be demolished or redeveloped.

So what's being done?

Social housebuilding in England is at its lowest rate in decades.

Since 1991, there has been an average annual net loss of 24,000 social homes, according to the homeless charity, Shelter.

Local authorities have to set targets for the amount of affordable homes that need to be built in their areas but few successfully meet them.

Gravesham council says it is committed to meeting the housing needs of the borough and bringing those waiting times down "as fast as it possibly can".

Cllr Jenny Wallace, Gravesham council’s cabinet member for housing services, said: “In the last year we carried out a thorough review of our housing register to ensure our council-owned homes are available to those with a housing need. One of the changes made was to extend the period for which applicants need to show they have lived or worked in the borough to three years.

“Even so, with 1,060 households requiring social housing demand outstrips supply, which is why we are committed to building more council homes in the borough.

“Since 2019 we have built 122 new council-owned houses for those on our housing register, have a planning application in for a further 46, and have a pipeline of 500 more for delivery over the next five years.

“While I understand and sympathise that this doesn’t make life any easier for those waiting for a home to become available, it does illustrate our commitment to bringing those waiting times down as fast as we possibly can.”

Elsewhere Folkestone & Hythe says it plans to build an additional 110 additional affordable homes to be delivered for either rent or shared ownership purchase, over the next financial year.

Tunbridge Wells expects to build 232 affordable homes, while Dartford has 163 in the pipeline.

In Canterbury, the council says with housing associations combined it is scheduled to complete around 200 social or affordable rent homes.

Ashford has delivered 77 units in the last 12 months and in the planning process are three schemes totalling 12 homes, an independent living scheme totalling 69 homes and a temporary accommodation scheme for another 23.