§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many second homes there are estimated to be in (a) Wales and (b) England at the latest available date for which figures are available.
§ Sir George YoungThe estimated number of second homes in England was 140,000 in March 1980. The number in Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.
Source: Audits of Great Britain Ltd. This estimate is based on a small sample of households and is therefore subject to a large sampling error.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will consider seeking to give local authorities more powers to control the number and location of second homes in their areas.
§ Mr. Giles ShawNo. I am not convinced that additional powers are needed.