Figures released by crowdfunding platform Property Partner found that more than 22,000 of the 53,640 lock-up garages owned by 24 London boroughs are currently empty or in disrepair.

The firm claimed that the total square footage of this space would equate to 16,111 average-sized one-bed flats on a single floor, or 64,400 if they were in four-storey apartment blocks.

Dan Gandesha, CEO of Property Partner, said: "This is just a snapshot of publicly owned land in London which is clearly surplus to requirement, underused or undeveloped. 

“When we have a crisis in affordable housing – not just in the capital, but in the UK – it begs the question whether councils in Britain should either sell off the land for development or build new homes themselves.   

“If a significant number of council garages, which are part of housing estates, are not even rented to those who should have a right to them – local authority tenants – then it could be argued that this is a wasted opportunity.”

According to the data, Ealing, Havering and Brent were the worst offending London boroughs, with 74%, 72% and 71% of garages remaining empty respectively.

On average, only 45% of garages rented out are actually let to council residents.

“Although making better use of underused council garages is not the absolute solution, it could seriously help alleviate the capital’s affordable housing crisis,” Dan added. 

“London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has publicly stated housing is a key issue for him and says he’s working closely with ‘partners’ to ensure more affordable homes are built on empty public land.

“This is very welcome news and hopefully our research about garages will help in some way to stir councils into urgent action.”