§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the number of additional acres which would be added to the register if all public and private land had to be shown on the register.
§ Mr. YeoI assume that my hon. Friend is referring only to unused and underused land.
A total of 82,400 acres of unused and underused land owned by the public sector in England was recorded as 57W being on the register at 30 September 1989. Since that date the register has been maintained only selectively, for the purpose of considering directions to dispose of such land.
No figure is available for the total amount of public and private unused and underused land. It is estimated at present that there are approximately 150,000 acres of vacant land in urban areas, but there is no basis for estimating the amount of such land outside urban areas or the amount of underused land in England as a whole which is not included in this figure.