There are 550 people on the housing register in Bodmin

Nineteen properties have been unveiled in Bodmin to help tackle what North Cornwall District Council describes as a "horrendous level" of homelessness in the town.

Bodmin has the longest waiting list for homes in North Cornwall, with 550 people on the housing register.

The council said the new homes at Granny's Green and Beacon Hill Mews would help solve the problem.

The council is investing more than �2.5m over the next three years for similar affordable housing schemes.

The new homes are already occupied, with the first tenants having moved in six weeks ago.

Many workers in Cornwall, where the average wage is �18,000, have been squeezed out of the property market by soaring house prices.

In the Bodmin area, the typical first-time buyer home has risen from about �45,000 to �110,000 over the past three years according to Andrew Jeffery, of Webbers estate agents in Bodmin.