§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many empty houses are owned by his Department in the United Kingdom; how many of them have been empty for over six months; and if he will make a statement. [11 8062]
§ Dr. MoonieAs at 29 February 2000, the Defence Housing Executive held a stock of 61,936 married quarters in England, Scotland and Wales, of which 47,385 were occupied and 3,719 were in the course of disposal. Of the balance of 10,832 empty properties, 3,507 were under offer to service families, most of which are likely to be occupied within the next two months. 1,145 were vacant awaiting further unit deployments or use as decant accommodation during refurbishment programmes. 1,652 properties were empty awaiting modernisation and 4,528 were routine voids, that is a working management margin for some 22,000 family moves each year.
Including properties identified for disposal, approximately 8,300 have been empty for more than six months.
Over 6,500 properties are planned for disposal during the next two years. Most of the MOD housing stock in England and Wales is owned by Annington Homes and is underleased by the MOD. Properties identified as having no long-term requirement to the Department are released to that company under the terms of the contract agreed in November 1996 by the previous Administration. Surplus MOD owned properties are sold by Defence Estates.
In Northern Ireland, a further 3,235 married quarters are owned by the MOD, of which 473 were empty as at 31 March 2000 and 236 had been empty for over six months.