asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the numbers of empty houses compulsorily purchased by the several local authorities in the Greater London area in the years 1973 and 1974.

I understand that the numbers of empty dwellings included in confirmed compulsory purchase orders made because those dwellings were empty were:

	1973	1974
Camden	1	37
Haringey	1	—
Harrow	—	2
Lambeth	—	1
Sutton	—	1
Wandsworth	—	1

Two authorities were unable to give figures in the time available. The figure was nil for the remainder.The figures exclude empty houses which may have been included in compulsory purchase orders for more general purposes such as clearance, development or improvement schemes.