The Gazette can today reveal demand for social housing is far-outstripping supply as cash-strapped residents clamour to put a roof over their heads.

In Blackpool, which has 5,824 council houses, 5,113 people are now on the waiting list.

New Fylde Housing, the company which maintains and manages the 1,800 social houses in Fylde, has 4,000 people are on its list and says the average wait for a property is around two and a half years.

And Regenda, which runs Wyre Housing Association, which has 2,700 properties, says an average wait is around 18 months. It has 100 households on its list.

Housing experts predict the situation will get worse as the combination of deepening negative equity, restrictions in the mortgage market and a lack of affordable housing bites.

Coun Paul Rigby, chairman of New Fylde Housing said: "We do not have plots of land sitting around waiting to be built on. There is no easy answer."

The number of repossessions continues to rise and it is thought there could be five million people nationally on council or housing association waiting lists within two years.

That means more families will go through the same uncertainty as Bispham couple Jeanette and Billy Garton, who faced waiting 10 months to get a house.

The pair, who have a five-year-old son, lost their house after falling into debt and spent four months living in a Blackpool hostel.

Coun Lily Henderson, from Blackpool Council, said: "Blackpool, like the rest of the country, is experiencing a growth in demand for social housing.

"This has been a continual growth over many years and not a trend that is likely to reverse. The waiting list for a property varies greatly depending on individual circumstances and the type of property required. We have a priority system in place to ensure those in most need are offered housing first."

Coun Paul Rigby, chairman of New Fylde Housing, and said the 80 flats planned for Heyhouses and 16 family homes designated for Freckleton would not even put a dent in the borough's 4,000-strong waiting list.

He said: "Thousands of people have a long wait for social housing, some have been waiting for many years already and I don't see the situation changing soon.

"The Right To Buy scheme, while great for those who were able to buy their own home, left social housing stocks severely depleted."

He added: "We do have a pot of money ringfenced from developments which we can use to subsidise our social housing partners when land becomes available, but we do not have land sitting around waiting to be built on.

"We were not allowed to put the profits back into social housing so there has been a shortfall for many years.

"Our target is to get 360 new affordable homes built in the borough every year for the next decade to clear this list but more people are coming onto the list every day, especially in these difficult economic times.

And Bill Taylor, executive director for social enterprise for Regenda, said: "We are planning to increase the supply of affordable homes in the area in partnership with developers and Wyre Council and have received some grant funding from the Housing Corporation to help to do this.

"But the slowdown in the market means the dates for delivery of these homes are uncertain at the moment, because developers are tending to slow down production in response to the market changes."

Repossessions in Blackpool have rocketed by more than a third in the first part of this year.

The average cost of a home has risen by 156 per cent during the past 10 years, while wages have risen by only 35 per cent during the same period. And the number of new homes being built by housing associations and local authorities during the past decade has fallen to its lowest level since 1947.

Mr and Mrs Garton, now in their new home in Lowland Way, Bispham, with son Daniel, say they are one of the lucky ones.

"It was difficult," said Mrs Garton, a 31-year-old hairdressing student.

"We lost our house, ended up in a hostel and it wasn't a nice experience. It's not nice having all the uncertainty hanging over you."

The family faced a torturous wait over their future until finding a property through Muir Group Housing Association.

"We got the call about this place and we were over moon," she said.

"It can be really worrying and frustrating being on the waiting list, but Muir have been really good to us.

"Now we're sorted and actually most of the people we dealt with try to do their best for you."