Lord Winstanleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many homes are currently unoccupied, in each major region of the United Kingdom, subdivided into local authority homes, other public sector homes and private sector homes.
§ Lord SkelmersdaleThe available estimates for April 1986, derived from English local authorities' Housing Investment Programme returns, are as follows:
VACANT DWELLINGS, ENGLAND: APRIL 1986 Thousands Local authorities Housing associations Other public sector Private sector All sectors North 11.4 (2.7) 1.0 (2.3) 1.0 (6.7) 30 (3.9) 43 (3.5) Yorkshire and Humberside 11.8 (2.2) 0.7 (2.3) 1.0 (5.7) 57 (4.2) 70 (3.6) East Midlands 6.5 (1.8) 0.7 (2.6) 1.9 (11.2) 52 (4.6) 62 (4.0) East Anglia 2.1 (1.3) 0.1 (0.9) 1.7 (8.9) 28 (4.6) 32 (4.0) London 27.8 (3.5) 6.5 (4.7) 1.6 (6.3) 93 (5.1) 129 (4.6) Rest of South-East 10.5 (1.5) 0.8 (1.3) 5.2 (5.5) 105 (3.3) 122 (3.0) South-West 3.2 (1.0) 0.3 (1.0) 2.4 (8.7) 58 (4.0) 64 (3.5) West Midlands 13.7 (2.5) 1.7 (3.4) 1.4 (5.2) 49 (3.5) 66 (3.3) North-West 24.6 (4.1) 3.1 (4.0) 2.3 (5.8) 80 (4.5) 110 (4.4) England 111.6 (2.5) 14.9 (3.2) 18.5 (6.6) 552 (4.1) 697 (3.7) In addition local authorities owned 1,700 further dwellings which were closed, making a total of 113,300.
The "other public sector" figures in this case include local authorities' overspill estates, in addition to housing owned by new towns, county councils (e.g. police houses), government departments and nationalised industries and other public agencies. Many of these dwellings are vacant because of operational requirements, notably those owned by the Ministry of Defence, and others have been acquired for demolition, for example by the Department of Transport. Government is encouraging the sale of housing which is not required and many of those that are vacant are in the process of disposal.
Housing associations' acquisitions of dwellings for rehabilitation inflate the numbers which are vacant.
Vacant dwellings in the private sector include those which are in severe disrepair, those undergoing renovation or awaiting demolition, those which are empty while being sold or between lettings, and those whose owners do not wish to occupy or sell them but are deterred from letting by the Rent Act.
The available estimates of vacant dwellings elsewhere in the United Kingdom are as follows:
VACANT DWELLINGS, APRIL 1986 Thousands Local authorities Housing associations Other public sector* Private sector All sectors Wales 2.9 0.7 0.5 40.8 44.9 Scotland 24 † 3 48† 75 Northern Ireland 3.1** 0.8 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. = not available. *"Other public sector" figure for Scotland covers new towns and Scottish Special Housing Association only. For Wales (and England) it includes local authorities" overspill estates, in addition to housing owned by new towns, county councils (e.g. police houses), government departments, nationalised industries and other public agencies. †"Private sector" figure for Scotland includes housing associations. **Northern Ireland Housing Executive excluding dwellings held for redevelopment. Sources: Welsh Office; Scottish Office; Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.