§ Mrs. Joyce Butlerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what estimate he has made, on the latest available information, of the number of empty houses in the private sector in each of the London boroughs; and what percentage of the total number of properties in each borough these figures represent;
(2) what estimate he has made, on the latest available information, of the number of empty houses in the public sector in each of the London boroughs; and what percentage of the total number of properties in each borough these figures represent.
§ Mr. Armstrong:The following information, taken from returns provided by local authorities in response to the Department's relets inquiry for 1977, relates to dwellings owned by each authority. Estimates of vacant dwellings include dwellings vacant and available for letting and dwellings vacant for modernisation, repair or conversion. Comparable information is not available for the private sector. The report of the 255W National Dwelling and Housing Survey due to be published next month will provide estimates of the total numbers of vacant dwellings and second homes for each London borough without, however, distinguishing public from private sector.
VACANT DWELLINGS IN HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT (HRA) STOCK LONDON BOROUGHS AND GLC: END 1977 Number Percentage of authority's total HRA stock Greater London Council 6,240 3 City of London 50 2 Barking 360 1 Barnet 330 2 Bexley 120 1 Brent 990 5 Bromley 320 2 Camden 2,410 9 Croydon 310 2 Ealing 400 2 Enfield N.A. N.A. Greenwich 700 3 Hackney N.A. N.A. Hammersmith 770 5 Haringey 650 3 Harrow 110 1 Havering 180 1 Hillingdon 580 2 Hounslow 540 3 Islington 1,070 4 Kensington and Chelsea 390 5 Kingston 70 1 Lambeth 2,650 9 Lewisham N.A. N.A. Merton 280 2 Newham 620 2 Redbridge 170 2 Richmond 170 2 Southwark 2,450 7 Sutton 110 1 Tower Hamlets 1,330 7 Waltham Forest 500 3 Wandsworth 1,050 4 Westminster 650 4