HC Deb 05 December 2002 vol 395 cc935-6W
Adam Price

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many unoccupied domestic properties there are in the UK; and how many are in the ownership of local authorities. [82725]

Mr. McNulty

The total number of vacant dwellings in England at 1 April 2001 (latest available data) was 755,100. Of those vacant dwellings, 80,300 were in the ownership of local authorities.

Many of these vacant dwellings are transitional vacants (eg they may be in the process of being bought or sold). The breakdown below shows numbers of vacant dwellings by tenure and the number of dwellings that have been vacant for more than six months at 1 April 2001.

Total dwellings vacant at 1 April 2001 of which: vacant for more than six months
Local authority 80,300 31,500
Registered Social Landlord 41,300 14,900
'Other' public sector 10,900 1
'Other' private sector 622,600 310,200
Total 755,100 1
1Not collected.

Note:

All figures rounded to the nearest 100.

Sources:

All data from ODPM Housing Investment Programme (HIP) returns except for data on RSLs obtained from the Housing Corporation's 2001 Regulatory and Statistical Return (RSR)

For information about other parts of the UK I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friends the Members for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy), for Neath (Peter Hain) and for Airdrie and Shotts (Mrs. Liddell).