§ Mr. HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vacant residential properties are owned by his Department in each county; what are his plans for reducing this number; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleAs at 31 December 1992, the latest date for which figures are available, my Department held 3,432 residential properties in connection with road 535W schemes in England, of which 721 were vacant. Details of these properties are held by departmental region and are set out in the table. To break down the figures to county level could be done only at disproportionate cost.
Region Total stock Vacant stock South East 894 181 South West 130 27 West Midlands 256 78 North West 405 91 Northern 31 7 Yorkshire and Humberside 65 20 East Midlands 43 13 Eastern 617 183 London 991 121 TOTAL 3,432 721 My Department is actively participating in the work of the task force on Government Departments' empty houses, as announced by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment in a written answer to my hon. Friend, the Member for Reading, West (Sir A. Durant), on 8 December 1992, Official Report, column 578. Our aim is to let these properties wherever possible on short-term leases, and to sell them as soon as the road building schemes allow us to do so.