PENZANCE is the worst town in Cornwall for affordable homes to be built, despite having the highest housing need.
Only 14 affordable homes have been built since 2009 but there are still 1,385 local applicants searching for a home, making it the worst in the county compared to other towns.
New developments, converting second and holiday homes into long-term lets and freeing up larger properties by increasing sheltered housing for the elderly are ways local county councillors are looking at boosting affordable housing numbers.
"People are suffering terribly," said Labour councillor Tim Dwelly. "This is a crisis."
He said members discovered the scale of the issue during a fact-finding mission around Penzance recently. Scouting out affordable housing in the town, they were dismayed to discover the low number of affordable builds.
"We were very shocked," said Councillor Dwelly.
"We knew there was a problem but didn't realise how bad it had become. The numbers are appalling."
One of those desperately searching for a suitable home is Amie Oliver. The 27-year-old is struggling to find space in her two-bed Penalverne home for herself, scaffolder husband Nick and four children, Primrose, 11, Dominick, 14 months, and 5-month-old twins Hyacinth and Lamorna. Three of the youngsters have to share a room with their parents.
"I just feel hopeless," she said.
"I have no personal things left, we had to throw it all out to make room for household items."
Every day is a squeeze for the young family with a freezer and shelving among the items crammed into the small living room.
The kitchen has no space for fresh food and she describes the packed hallway as a "tripping hazard".
For the past three years Mrs Oliver has been searching the Homechoice register, bidding for a more suitable council or housing association home, but has yet to find anything.
She has even broadened her search across the county.
"More one-bedroom flats need to be built to free up larger homes for families," she said.
New Penzance Labour county councillor Cornelius Olivier said: "I don't think Cornwall Council or councillors have tried hard enough to look at this issue before and there is now a belated recognition that something needs to be done."
A Cornwall Council spokesman said around 113 properties have been advertised in the Penzance area from April 2012 to March 2013."
