§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list(a) the number of defence domestic properties there are throughout the United Kingdom and (b) the number unoccupied at the present time; indicating how many have been unoccupied for six months, one year, two years and for longer than two years.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonRecords are not maintained in the precise form requested. As at 31 March 1991, the latest date for which figures are available, the total stock of service married quarters in the United Kingdom was 73,462 of which 10,111 were vacant; 7,707 had been vacant for less than one year, 1,104 for one to two years and 1,300 for over two years. In addition, the Ministry of Defence owned 1,573 civilian houses, of which 170 were vacant; 57 had been vacant for under six months and 113 for six months or more.
Many of these vacant properties were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or modernisation, some were already attached to service families who were due to move in shortly and others were being considered for disposal. In addition 1,864 dwellings were in the process of being sold.