HC Deb 22 April 1993 vol 223 cc192-3W
Mr. Straw

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 11 January,Official Report, column 633, if he will list the full address of each site with 20 or more dwellings which are vacant.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The information requested could be provided only at disprortionate cost.

Mr. Jamieson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the empty Ministry of Defence houses in Mantle gardens, Barne Barton, Plymouth.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The sale of the surplus married quarters at Mantle Gardens to the Devon and Cornwall housing association has been agreed. We hope to complete the sale shortly.

Mr. Jamieson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of the discussions with Devon and Cornwall housing association to acquire empty Ministry of Defence dwellings at Raglan barracks, Mount Wise, Plymouth.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

The sale of the former married quarters estate at Raglan barracks has been agreed in principle but the Devon and Cornwall housing association—DCHA—has been unable to secure the necessary funding for completing the purchase. In order to ensure that the empty properties are brought back into early use and with DCHA agreement, the properties have now been placed on the open market.

Mr. Jamieson

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many dwellings owned by his Ministry are currently unoccupied.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

As at 31 March 1993, a total of 9,291 Ministry of Defence-owned houses and fiats were unoccupied, of which 9,166 were service married quarters. Of these, 2,153 were either undergoing or awaiting major maintenance work or modernisation, 2,493 were already allocated to service families who were due to move in shortly and 870 were being held for agreed deployment or deployments under study. In addition, some 2,433 vacant service married quarters and 265 civilian houses, most of which were occupied, were in the process of being sold.

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