§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list all authorities in England and Wales showing the(a) number of empty homes, (b) yield of council tax from empty homes, (c) number of second homes, (d) council tax discount applied to second homes and (e) council tax yield from second homes. [166886]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe most recent available figures for the numbers of long-term empty and second homes within the area of each English billing authority relate to 1 November 2002 have been made available in the Library of the House.
If all billing authorities reduced their second homes discount to the minimum possible figure of 10 per cent., we estimate that about £65 million could potentially be raised in England. If all English authorities removed their discount for long-term empty homes completely, this could raise a further £160 million.
Information on changes to discounts made for second or long-term empty homes for 2004–05 in England is still being collected from individual local authorities and so is not yet available.
Initial information provided on budget returns suggests, however, that almost half of the 1.2 per cent. increase between 2003–04 and 2004–05 in the total tax base for English authorities is due to reductions in second homes discounts and reductions or removals of discounts for long-term empty homes. This is equivalent to about 100,000 Band D properties.
Figures for Welsh local authorities are a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government.
§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many households received an empty homes council tax discount in England in each year since 1997. [169494]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not collect information in the form requested. Returns by local billing authorities show the number of dwellings subject to a discount as at 16 October each year, rather than the total number of dwellings which have received a discount in the year. Authorities have only been asked to identify long-term empty property discounts separately from other discounts since 2001. The reported figures for dwellings subject to a long-term empty discount are:
1135W
- 16 October 2001: 340,000
- 16 October 2002: 376,000.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not yet have all the necessary returns from authorities to calculate a figure for 16 October 2003.