§ Mr. Norman HoggTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide figures showing both the numbers and percentages of empty houses in(i) the public sector and (ii) the private sector in each local housing authority.
§ Mrs. Roe[holding answer 14 July 1988]The latest information is for April 1987, from the English authorities' housing investment programme returns, and was included in the table which was sent to the hon. Member on 14 July. All authorities provided figures for their own stock, and these have been shown separately; they exclude closed dwellings, of which there where 2,200 in England. Authorities' information about other vacant housing is generally less accurate and some authorities were unable to provide estimates.