§ Mr. Oswaldasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of houses in the city of Edinburgh which have been condemned as unfit for human habitation by the local authority; and whether the tenants have been notified either by the proprietors, landlords, factors or the local authority of the condemning of such property.
§ Mr. J. StuartBetween 1923 and 1939 a total of 7,759 houses were condemned as unfit and the great majority have been demolished or closed. Because of the shortage of accommodation no house has been formally condemned since 1939. Under Section 157 of the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1950, a local authority must serve a notice on the occupier after a clearance, demolition or closing order has become operative.
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§ Mr. Oswaldasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of one-apartment, two-apartment, three-apartment, four-apartment, five-apartment, six-apartment, seven-apartment and over houses, unoccupied in the city of Edinburgh; and why such houses are still unoccupied in view of the large waiting list on the corporation's registers.
§ Mr. J. StuartAccording to the latest valuation roll, there are 3,174 unoccupied houses in the city, but I have no information about their size. I am informed that the majority of them are closed because they are unfit, and that the remainder are temporarily vacant pending reletting, reconstruction or sale.
§ Mr. Oswaldasked the Secretary of State for Scotland the number of houses abandoned by owners in the city of Edinburgh; and how many such abandoned houses have been requisitioned by the local authority for housing homeless people on the local authority registers.
§ Mr. J. StuartI am informed that 64 houses in Edinburgh have been abandoned by their owners. As these houses are occupied, the second part of the Question does not arise.