§ 9. Mr. Thomas Coxasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many requests he has received from inner London borough councils requesting his approval for compulsory purchase orders 494 on empty houses in their boroughs; and how many he has granted.
§ Mr. RipponSince January 1971 the inner London boroughs have submitted 15 compulsory purchase orders on individual empty dwellings required for the provision of housing accommodation. Five of those have been confirmed, one rejected, and one withdrawn, and eight are still under consideration.
The London borough of Camden has also made an order for the 36 empty maisonettes in Centre Point, which is awaiting inquiry.
Figures are not readily available for empty dwellings which local authorities may have included in other compulsory purchase orders, mainly to provide cleared sites.
§ Mr. CoxI am grateful for those figures, but is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that his attitude to compulsory purchase orders is seriously affecting the housing problems of many local authorities? Speculators are making fortunes out of keeping houses empty while local authorities see their homeless lists increasing week by week. Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman further aware that there are an estimated 100,000 houses empty in London which could and should be housing the people of London? When will he meet local authority representatives to discuss the possibility of speeding up and clarifying compulsory purchase order procedures, because this is what is deterring local authorities from sending orders to him?
§ Mr. RipponI have given the hon. Gentleman the figures. Under the law the initiative lies with the local authorities. The hon. Gentleman can see the action that we have taken, with a considerable number of orders being confirmed. We have made it clear that we think that local authorities should make compulsory purchase orders in cases where properties are empty and they are satisfied that the position is unlikely to be remedied in the ordinary course of events.
§ Mr. Evelyn KingIs my right hon. and learned Friend aware that the hon. Member for Wandsworth, Central (Mr. Thomas Cox) has it all wrong, and that, although there are tens of thousands of houses empty in London, many of them 495 are empty because London boroughs take up to a year to grant planning consent for the erection of any building? Is my right hon. and learned Friend further aware that at present rates of interest the delay can add £1,000 or more to the cost of buildings when they are erected?
§ Mr. RipponThere are many aspects to the problem, but the initiative lies in the first instance with the borough councils concerned. We shall play our part when they play theirs.
§ Mr. John FraserMay I assure the Secretary of State that in the Lambeth area of my constituency it is easy to find 50 houses which have been empty for more than a year? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman confirm that he will act promptly on compulsory purchase orders submitted by local authorities, that he will not make borrowing for the purchase of empty houses subject to key sector lending and thereby control the acquisition of empty houses, and that he will consider the use of requisitioning powers by local authorities, because the housing situation is very desperate? We simply cannot afford to wait for compulsory purchase orders to be confirmed.
§ Mr. RipponI have set out the general position and I hope that individual boroughs will act on their own initiative. I indicated in the White Paper the circumstances in which compulsory purchase orders would be approved and the circumstances in which local authorities ought to act, namely, where properties are empty where they should not be empty, and where the position cannot be remedied in the ordinary way. Clearly there is a limit on the amount of money that local authorities can or should spend on buying up properties in the market.