§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the latest estimate of privately owned empty dwellings in Scotland.
§ Mr. RifkindPreliminary results from the 1981 census suggest that there were rather more than 100,000 vacant houses, including new property and premises being converted or modernised, in Scotland on census night. The number of vacant houses in the public sector has been estimated in the past on the basis of evidence derived from the 1971 census as 35,000. But for an up-to-date basis for a private sector total we shall have to await the results of the post-enumeration survey.