Oxford City Council is losing more than £700,000 a year in rent because so many of its properties are standing empty.

As of December 21, 156 stand idle across the city -- an "unacceptable" level, according to the man in charge of council housing policy.

But city councillor Ed Turner, portfolio holder for strategic planning, housing and economic development, said the situation would not improve if housing was sold off to a housing association or private company.

Mr Turner said: "If tenants felt that was the way to go we would listen, but I think it would be much harder to keep tabs on what was happening, so I wouldn't encourage such a move.

"The number of void properties is still too high, but not all properties that have got shutters up are empty -- sometimes people have to be moved out in an emergency and some are to be demolished.

"Any house which is unnecessarily empty is wrong because we have got hundreds of people in temporary accommodation at the taxpayers' expense. Having 156 properties empty is unacceptable."

It takes 12 weeks for houses in the worst condition to be relet and the council claims it spends about £6,000 redecorating, rewiring and fitting houses with central heating, new kitchens and bathrooms to meet the Government's decent homes standard.

Graham Stratford, Oxford City Council's housing business manager, said: "The city council owns a large number of properties so there will always be a certain percentage empty at any one time.

"Properties are repaired and relet in the shortest possible time, but some require structural work which takes longer.

"The number of houses in this category is 117 -- which is 1.3 per cent of our 8,300 properties. There have been some problems with turning properties around in the past year, but we are working to speed the process up.

"Our target next year is to at least halve the average period houses are empty and thus halve the rental loss."

City planners say Oxford needs 1,800 new houses each year to keep pace with demand, but only about 380 are built.

Liberal Democrat city councillor Patrick Murray said: "I'm not one of these people who thinks private business can do a better job than the state. This is not about making a profit -- this is about protecting the most vulnerable in society."

The council says some tenants are to blame because they wreck properties before leaving, but that is small comfort to the 5,000 people on the council house waiting list.

Green city councillor Elise Benjamin said: "We have families who are desperate for accommodation. Empty properties all over the city should be brought into occupancy as a matter of urgency."

Tenants are poised to vote on the future of the council's 8,300 homes next year.

Independent Working Class Association councillor Lee Cole said: "We're afraid that if the council gets rid of its houses the rents could go sky-high and there wouldn't be any accountability."

David Rundle, chairman of the city council's housing scrutiny committee, added: "The figures suggest we're losing more than £700,000 in rent a year. Housing scrutiny will not let this go because the situation has to change."

Neighbouring Swindon Borough Council has a stock of 11,000 council houses, of which some 110 are currently empty.

The authority estimates that by the end of the financial year it will have lost some £494,000 in rent through these homes being unoccupied.