§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the percentage of properties suitable for residential use and administered by the Crown estate (i) empty for more than six months, (ii) empty for more than one year and (iii) the location of these properties in terms of the region and local authority area.
§ Mr. MajorI understand from the Crown Estate that of the properties administered by them that are suitable for residential use, 2.14 per cent. have been empty for more than six months and 3.63 per cent. have been empty for more than 12 months. These figures reflect both the slow-down in the residential market, and properties awaiting planned modernisation.
The properties are located as follows:
(a) regionally in Scotland, the North East, the East and West Midlands, the East, London, the South East and the South West.(b) by local authority area in Moray, Stirling, Holderness, Huntingdon South and North Kesteven, South Holland, Hinkley/Bosworth, South Staffordshire, Huntingdon, City of Westminster, Camden, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Windsor and Maidenhead, Hastings, Weymouth and Portland, Tunbridge Wells, Rother, Kingston, Elmbridge, West Somerset and Kennet.