§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if there is a centrally held list of empty properties owned by housing associations; and if so how many(a) have been empty for under six months, (b) have been empty for under one year and (c) have been empty over a year; [114801]
(2) how many properties owned by housing associations have been empty for (a) under six months, (b) under one year and (c) over one year. [114800]
§ Mr. MullinA centrally held list of properties owned by housing associations does not exist.
533WThe Housing Corporation is the regulatory body for housing associations (also referred to as registered social landlords—RSLs). The Corporation keeps various details about stock owned/managed by RSLs (from the annual Regulatory and Statistical Return and other returns), but this does not include a list of property addresses.
The RSLs themselves maintain records of all their properties in order that they can manage their properties to the standards set down by the Corporation—and to provide information for audit purposes.
Number of vacant self-contained RSL units At March 31 each year Available for letting Percentage Not available for letting Percentage Total vacancies Percentage Vacancies in 1998 Less than 6 months 13,547 88 6,049 47 19,596 69 6 months to 1 year 1,043 7 2,908 23 3,951 14 More than a year 782 5 3,874 30 4,656 17 Total 15,372 100 12,831 100 28,203 100 Vacancies in 1999 Less than 6 months 15,143 88 7,852 53 22,995 72 6 months to 1 year 1,156 7 2,504 17 3,660 11 More than a year 863 5 4,514 30 5,377 17 Total 17,162 100 14,870 100 32,032 100 Sources:
Profile of the RSL Sector, 1998 (Table 3.9), published by the Housing Corporation
Profile of the RSL Sector, 1999 (provisional draft of table 3.9)—unpublished but due to be published during 2000 by the Housing Corporation
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will list the number of empty council-owned properties in each local authority; [114799]
(2) if there is a centrally held database on the amount of council-owned empty property. [114798]
§ Mr. MullinLocal authorities in England provide information on the number of vacant dwellings in their ownership as part of their annual Housing Investment Programme submission to the Department. The latest available information, as reported by local authorities on their 1999 HIP returns, is on a computerised dataset available in the Library.
A level of vacancy is a usual feature of housing management, reflecting turnover and movement within the stock. There is likely to be some variation in the proportion of dwellings that are vacant in a local authority from one date to another during the year.