HC Deb 28 February 1985 vol 74 cc228-9W
Mr. Simon Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes have taken place in the number of empty dwellings in Greater London and in each of its component boroughs and the City in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector in each of the last six years up to the latest date for which information is available.

Sir George Young

The available information is from housing authorities' annual housing investment programme returns, which, except for their own dwelling stock, are based on such evidence as they can gather. Figures for consecutive years may not be comparable because they are not on a common basis, so that apparent changes must be interpreted with caution, not only for the private sector but for the public sector, which includes, as well as council houses, some dwellings owned by other public authorities and by housing associations.

The figures reported by the authorities for each year from 1978 and the increases or decreases each year are given in the following table, with estimates for Greater London which include allowances for missing figures.

Private Sector Public Sector
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Croyden 2,900 2,900 3,100 3,100 2,839 2,542 3,228 370 290 360 362 431 456 422
Ealing 1,582 1,489 2,331 2,272 2,111 2,100 2,195 670 758 943 1,013 858 784 735
Enfield * * * * 3,149 2,900 2,179 †382 †605 †454 †381 †345 †497 †613
Greenwich 1,500 1,539 1,686 1,386 1,140 2,206 2,126 1,158 1,331 964 1,286 1,550 1,227 1,321
Hackney 1,600 1,750 2,450 2,870 2,780 1,980 2,553 3,147 3,750 4,300 4,880 4,890 3,899 3,577
Hammersmith & Fulham 2,770 4,147 3,441 3,767 4,774 4,794 4,862 †1,483 1,602 2,209 1,873 1,765 1,578 1,419
Haringey 2,370 1,935 1,121 1,530 2,422 2,962 3,310 2,076 2,358 2,479 2,110 1,238 1,133 1,153
Harrow 970 1,220 1,328 1,832 1,540 1,687 1,382 170 183 126 120 145 168 195
Havering 1,300 1,400 1,538 1,584 1,590 1,608 1,628 410 510 326 449 453 504 438
Hillingdon 1,510 940 1,200 1,215 1,220 1,241 1,270 710 1,171 671 955 778 594 465
Hounslow 1,580 2,137 2,125 1,474 3,322 2,197 2,627 123 796 846 526 678 533 341
Islington 1,856 1,824 5,100 5,647 5,092 5,275 3,200 3,810 4,793 3,836 3,289 2,908 2,725 2,764
Kensington & Chelsea 3,147 2,813 5,952 6,000 8,080 8,080 8,080 2,253 2,387 †570 1,480 1,619 1,277 1, 121
Kingston upon Thames 900 1,270 1,276 1,071 1,051 1,497 1,393 206 †128 156 144 167 164 201
Lambeth 2,150 2,170 2,700 2,700 3,990 3,610 3,610 4,850 4,630 †3,140 3,200 2,640 2,990 2,516
Lewisham 4,700 3,400 2,500 2,006 2,514 2,500 2,500 1,763 2,430 †2,250 2,694 2,286 2,196 2,348
Merton 1,533 1,968 2,500 2,540 2,540 3,061 2,123 236 122 †312 †168 †224 †334 411
Newham 1,730 2,357 2,337 2,321 1,894 2,194 2,325 1,154 †1,073 †1,670 1,537 1,504 1,243 1,799
Redbridge 2,100 2,500 2,600 2,600 2,513 2,534 2,559 320 390 315 310 522 463 339
Richmond upon Thames 2,350 2,629 2,883 * 2,918 2,955 2,985 158 332 297 †209 143 165 143
Southwark 2,400 1,525 3,750 2,290 1,500 1,500 1,500 3,985 4,275 3,986 4,710 4,978 5,093 4,002
Sutton 1,083 695 794 649 434 795 820 †217 317 335 270 189 152 210
Tower Hamlets 510 510 400 450 400 403 438 2,192 2,811 3,138 2,951 2,434 2,700 2,390
Waltham Forest 2,106 2,507 2,502 2,510 2,526 2,472 2,486 727 940 1,265 1,131 1,087 896 851
Wandsworth 3,194 3,780 4,619 3,857 3,910 3,725 2,102 2,257 2,770 2,511 †2,406 2,029 1,697 1,937
Westminster 4,150 6,230 5,736 7,426 8,000 8,000 7,800 912 1,770 2,064 1,747 1,853 2,060 1,688
67,000 71,400 83,300 82,800 91,800 91,700 88,300 46,000 49,800 49,000 46,400 42,700 40,500 39,700
* Not known.
† One or more elements not known.
n/a = Not applicable. Source: HIP returns.

Table 2
Change in vacant dwellings in Greater London by borough 1978 to 1984 at 1 April in each year
Private Sector Public Sector
1978 to 1979 1979 to 1980 1980 to 1981 1981 to 1982 1982 to 1983 1983 to 1984 1978 to 1979 1979 to 1980 1980 to 1981 1981 to 1982 1982 to 1983 1983 to 1984
Greater London Council n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
City of London 0 * * * * * -1 9 110 65
Barking & Dagenham 26 -159 93 * * * 540 -524 4
Barnet 106 1,471 18 21 -625 -122 480 -182 -115 14 10 -9
Bexley 664 63 -26 15 295 22 46 -3 -17 48
Brent 0 300 0 486 -662 129 50 -150 -448 -150 52 121
Bromley -76 -350 -42 731 -393 -93 -14 -70
Camden -37 27 7 -319 506 287 -1,045 -212 -137 -31
Croydon 0 200 0 -261 -297 686 -80 70 2 69 25 -34
Ealing -93 842 -59 -161 -11 95 88 185 70 -155 -74 -49
Enfield * * * * -249 -721
Greenwich 39 147 -300 -246 1,066 -80 173 -367 322 264 -323 94
Hackney 150 700 420 -90 -800 573 603 550 580 10 -991 -322
Hammersmith & Fulham 1,377 -706 326 1,007 20 68 607 -336 -108 -187 -159
Haringey -435 -814 409 892 540 348 282 121 -369 -872 -105 20
Harrow 250 108 504 -292 147 -305 13 -57 -6 25 23 27
Havering 100 138 46 6 18 20 100 -184 123 4 51 -66
Hillingdon -570 260 15 5 21 29 461 -500 284 -177 -184 -129
Hounslow 557 -12 -651 1,848 -1,125 430 673 50 -320 152 -145 -192
Islington -32 3,276 547 -555 183 -2,075 983 -957 -547 -381 -183 39
Kensington & Chelsea -334 3,139 48 2,080 0 0 134 139 -342 -156
Kingston upon Thames 370 6 -205 -20 446 -104 -12 23 -3 37
Lambeth 20 530 0 1,290 -380 0 -220 -560 350 -474
Lewisham -1,300 -900 -494 508 -14 0 667 -408 -90 152
Merton 435 532 40 0 521 -938 -104
Newham 627 -20 -16 -427 300 131 -33 -261 556
Redbridge 400 100 0 -87 21 25 70 -75 -5 212 -59 -124
Richmond upon Thames 279 254 * * 37 30 174 -35 22 48
Southwark -875 2,225 -1,460 -790 0 0 290 -289 724 268 115 -1,091
Sutton -388 99 -145 -215 361 25 18 -65 -81 -37 58
Tower Hamlets 0 -110 50 -50 3 35 619 327 -187 -517 266 -310
Waltham Forest 401 -5 8 16 -54 14 213 325 -134 -44 -191 -45
Wandsworth 586 839 -762 53 -185 -1,623 513 -259 -332 240
Westminster 2,080 -491 1,690 574 0 -200 858 294 -317 106 207 -372
+4,300 +11,900 -500 +9,000 -100 -3,400 +3,800 -800 -2,600 -3,700 -2,200 -800
* Not known (Private sector).
† One or more elements not known (Public sector).
n/a = Not applicable.