§ Sir Paul BeresfordTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the 30 English local authorities with the highest number of empty council houses (i) as a percentage of the total owned and (ii) in total. [28253]
§ Mr. RaynsfordLocal authorities in England report the numbers of their vacant dwellings at 1 April each year in their annual Housing Investment Programme (HIPI) returns. A total of 81,220 dwellings (2.4 per cent of the dwellings owned) were reported as vacant on 1 April 1997. Within this total, some 49,920 (1.5 per cent dwellings) were management vacants, i.e. dwellings available for letting immediately or after minor repairs. I will write to the hon. Member shortly with the detailed information requested.