§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to make use of his Department's empty residential property.
§ Mr. WattsMy Department acquires land and property, including residential property, as a consequence of the Secretary of State's duties as a highway authority. Our policy is to keep to a minimum the number of properties standing empty at any time by letting, normally at full market rent, until road construction starts. Properties on the line of the road are demolished and those properties identified as surplus are released back into the housing market at the earliest possible date.
As announced by my hon. Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, West (Mr. Jones) on 30 November in response to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Field), Official Report, columns 732–34, during the current financial year my Department plans to reduce by more than half the number of residential properties standing empty on 1 April 1994.