§ Mr. HendryTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total number of houses owned by his Department that have been empty for(a) more than six months and (b) more than 12 months; and what action his Department is taking to reduce the numbers. [25858]
§ Mr. WattsAs at the end of April 1995, my Department held 324 dwellings which had been standing empty for more than six months and a further 504 had been standing empty for more than 12 months.
Regular monitoring of the situation on empty dwellings takes place to try and ensure that tenants are found as quickly as possible for those dwellings which are vacant but lettable. We also constantly monitor all the properties in our portfolio so as to identify at the earliest possible opportunity those which are required for road schemes and therefore need to be demolished and those which can be declared surplus and sold. As at the end of April, of the 828 dwellings identified above, 250 were vacant because they were either awaiting sale or demolition.