§ Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many residential properties owned by his Department are(a) empty, (b) for sale on the open market, (c) intended for sale on the open market and (d) for sale to housing associations, in terms of numbers and percentage of stock.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonAs at 31 December 1991, the latest date for which figures are available, 9,817 properties, representing 13.4 per cent. of the service married quarter stock, and 139 properties, representing 18.4 per cent. of the 285W MOD civilian housing stock, were vacant. Many of these properties were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or modernisation, some were already allotted to service families who were due to move in shortly and more than 600 were being considered for disposal.
A futher 2,774 properties, not included in the above and not all vacant, were in the process of sale. Of these, 296—11 per cent.—were for sale on the open market, 295—11 per cent.—were intended for sale on the open market, 1,002—36 per cent.—were for sale to housing associations or local authorities, 423—15 per cent.—were being sold through the services' discount scheme and 758—27 per cent.—were being offered for sale to tenants.