§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on trends in the number of empty(a) local authority homes, (b) private homes, (c) Government properties containing residential accommodation and (d) flats above shops in each of the last 12 years. [32319]
§ Mr. Raynsford[holding answer 3 March 1998]: Estimates of the numbers of vacant dwellings in England on 1 April are given in the table. No data are collected centrally on vacant flats over shops.
We will continue to encourage local housing authorities to develop effective empty property strategies to help make the best use of existing housing stock across all tenures.
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Local authority1 Other public sector2 Registered Social Landlords3 Private Sector4 1986 113 n/a 26 552 1987 112 n/a 24 570 1988 103 n/a 24 580 1989 101 21 22 589 1990 99 17 20 587 1991 83 15 16 638 1992 74 14 16 706 1993 71 16 517 765 1994 70 17 21 737 1995 72 20 21 690
Local authority1 Other public sector2 Registered Social Landlords3 Private sector4 1996 80 20 24 667 1997 81 19 27 640 1 Source: HIP1 returns from local authorities 2 Mainly government departments and, since 1993 Housing Action Trusts. Sources: Government Departments and HIP1 returns. 3 Source: Housing Corporation HAR 10/1 returns from housing associations and other Registered Social Landlords. The figures for 1986 to 1988 are for England and Wales. 4 Source: HIP1 returns from local authorities. There are doubts, particularly for the earlier years, about the quality of some authorities' estimates of the number of private sector vacants; independent survey data suggest that the HIP1 figures may over-estimate total of these vacants. 5Excludes some 10,500 dwellings that were purchased as a result of measures to boost the housing market announced in the 1992 Autumn Statement.