Queues for a council house almost double in a decade

Waiting lists of those hoping to get a housing association or council home have gone up by 87 per cent in London and 95 per cent in the rest of the South-East.

For the whole of England, the register of those waiting for a flat or house has lengthened by more than half since Labour came to power in 1997.

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The breakdown released by ministers is graphic evidence of why Gordon Brown is desperate to accelerate the rate of housebuilding to provide millions more state-subsidised homes in the wealthiest and most heavily populated parts of the country.

The growing waiting lists also suggest reasons why ministers are anxious about tensions linked to immigration and the need to develop greater "social cohesion".

Culture Minister Margaret Hodge complained last year that in her East London constituency migrant families were being given priority for homes over those with a "legitimate sense of entitlement".

And the Communities Department said local housing policies should take into account the needs and fears of established populations.

It estimates that 309,000 council or housing association homes are occupied by foreign nationals, 8 per cent of all social housing.

The breakdown of housing waiting lists held by councils released by the Communities Department shows that the overall queue in England has lengthened from 1,062,180 in 1996 to 1,674,420 last year, a jump of 58 per cent.

In London, where the queues are longest, the waiting list went up from 178,660 to 333,860 over the same period, a leap of 87 per cent.

In the South East, the register went up by 95 per cent to 208,420.

By contrast, the waiting list in the North East went up by 10 per cent.

Tories accused Labour of failing to keep its promises on social housing.

Conservative local government spokesman Eric Pickles said: "Labour has tried to deceive the public into believing that social housing has been one of their top priorities.

"However despite countless headline grabbing initiatives wasting thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money, the harsh reality is that fewer people are getting on to the housing ladder."

The Government is pressing to build hundreds of thousands of homes in southern parts of the country, many of them intended to be subsidised social housing.

But housebuilding rates have not risen in line with ministers' hopes, partly because of resistance among existing residents to the loss of green fields.

Robert Whelan, housing expert at the Civitas think tank, said: "These figures show the great strain that immigration has put on services in general and housing in particular."