§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many(a) empty local authority homes, (b) empty private homes, (c) empty Government homes, (d) empty flats above shops, (e) vacant offices suitable for conversion into homes and (f) other non-residential premises suitable for conversion into homes there are in each region in Scotland. [32227]
§ Mr. Macdonald[holding answer 2 March 1998]: Information received from local authorities indicates that there were 18,085 vacant local authority dwellings as at 31 March 1997 and the figures for each local authority area are published in The Scottish Office Statistical Bulletin, "Housing Trends in Scotland: Quarter Ended 31 March 1997" (HSG/1997/7), November 1997. As at 1 October 1997, there were 4 houses owned by The Scottish Office empty for more than 6 months. Information on the other categories of empty properties is not held centrally.
§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money his Department has allocated in the current financial year to fill(a) empty local authority homes, (b) empty private homes, (c) empty Government homes, (d) empty flats above shops, (e) vacant offices suitable for conversion into homes and (f) other non-residential premises suitable for conversion into homes in each region in Scotland. [32228]
§ Mr. Macdonald[holding answer 2 March 1998]: In the current financial year, £2 million has been allocated to an Empty Homes Initiative designed to help bring empty properties back into use for housing. These funds were allocated to 16 local authorities following a bidding process and I announced in December 1997 that a further £7 million will be available to fund empty homes projects through the Initiative in 1998–99. This is in addition to resources made available to local authorities and Scottish Homes for housing purposes which are not hypothecated specifically for expenditure on empty homes.