§ Mr. Simon Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will state, for the most recent convenient date, the number of empty residential properties owned by his Department; if he will give the figure for the same date for the three previous years; what percentage this figure represents of the total number of residential properties owned by his Department; and what plans he has for bringing these properties into use.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe figures are as follows:
Date Number of Empty Dwellings Percentage of Total Owned February 1981 303 8.6 September 1981 471 14.3 April 1982 442 13.6 March 1984 342 11.5 Of the dwellings empty on 31 March 1984, 158 were being sold, 108 were under repair or being re-let, and 55 were awaiting demolition for Departmental road schemes.
It is the Department's policy to let its properties, wherever practicable, until they have to be demolished for road works, or become surplus to requirements and can be sold.