PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Empty Property (2 July 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of vacant residential properties (a) awaiting occupation, (b) that are derelict, (c) that are for sale and (d) in other categories; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of current net additional housing demand that could be met through bringing vacant properites back into use.

Asked by:
Damian Hinds (Conservative)

Under this Government, the number of empty homes in England has fallen to a 10 year low. The number of long-term empty homes has fallen by around a third from October 2009 to October 2013, and the overall number of empty homes has fallen by around a fifth over the same period.

Statistics on vacant dwellings at a national and local authority level are published in the Department's live table 615, which is available on the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants

My Department does not collect information centrally on the number of vacant residential properties awaiting occupation, derelict, for sale or in other categories. The Department does not hold information on the proportion of current net additional housing demand that could be met through bringing vacant properties back into use.

As outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 18 September 2012, Official Report, Column 29-31WS, my Department does not publish statistics by government office region.

Answered by:
Stephen Williams (Liberal Democrat)
10 July 2014