§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many empty homes owned by(a) Government agencies and (b) local authorities were brought back into use in 1998 as a result of the developing empty property strategy promoted by his Department. [89678]
§ Mr. RaynsfordIn general information is not collected centrally on the numbers of empty homes brought back into use. Instead data are collected on the numbers of vacant dwellings, which is the key outcome of action to reduce the number of empty homes. Figures for vacant dwellings in England at 1 April 1998 were published in Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Information Bulletin 189/99 on 2 March 1999 which has been placed in the Library of the House.