Land Register (Hansard, 30 January 1991)

§ 9. Mr. Summerson
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to ensure that all vacant, dormant, derelict, underused and underutilised land in public ownership is entered on the land register; how many acres are currently on the register; and how much has been sold for private development since 1 January 1990.

§ Sir George Young
Complete up-to-date information is not available. I am considering what further action should be taken on vacant land, including ways of improving the registers.

§ Mr. Summerson
Does my hon. Friend agree that were more, if not all, publicly owned land made available for development, it would not only enhance our inner-city areas and facilitate the provision of more much-needed housing, but reduce the pressures for development in the countryside?

§ Sir George Young
What my hon. Friend says is true. At the last reckoning, there were about 82,400 acres of derelict land on the register. Of course, a great deal of land was not registered. Much of that land is suitable for housing. If it were made available, homes could be provided for people who need them and the demand for green-field development could be reduced. I entirely endorse the principles that my hon. Friend has enunicated.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
Could the register be extended to include vacant property? How many vacant houses owned by Government Departments, as distinct from local authorities, are there in the United Kingdom?

§ Sir George Young
I do not have the exact figures at my fingertips. From time to time efforts are made to introduce legislation that would do what the hon. Member suggests. I hope that he will accept that there is a distinction between 933 a register of derelict land and a register of properties that are not occupied. There would be considerable problems keeping the latter up to date.

§ Mr. Steen
Was not the whole point of setting up the register to identify vacant land in public ownership and then get rid of it? For the past 10 years—since the register came into existence—tens of thousands of acres of vacant public land have been got rid of, but tens of thousands of acres have also been added. Included in the latter is the land that public undertakers took with them when they went into the private sector. If the Government are having difficulty getting rid of surplus public land in local authority ownership, should not they set an example by getting rid of some of the surplus land in Government ownership, over which they have control?

§ Sir George Young
Of course, the Government should lead by example. As my hon. Friend knows, we issued a consultation paper on this subject last autumn and at the moment I am considering the responses. I had a most helpful meeting with my hon. Friend and his co-authors of the publication "PLUMS", which contained a foreword from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. I am considering how to respond, taking account of the suggestions in that consultation document and of other suggestions. It is clear that fresh initiatives in this area are needed.

§ Mr. O'Brien
When the Minister introduces the register of vacant dormant and derelict land will he include a separate paragraph on the vacant land under the control of the urban development corporations, particularly the London Docklands development corporation, which is being wound up? Will he state the amount of land that is in the charge of the UDCs and the LDDC?

§ Sir George Young
I am sure that that information is readily available from the LDDC. The LDDC took over a chunk of London that was derelict and during the past few years it has been converting that land very imaginatively and putting it to productive use. It will continue to do so until all the vacant land is put to better use.