asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the latest available figures for the number of second homes in Scotland in aggregate and broken down by district and island council areas, in numerical terms and as a proportion of the total housing stock.

The information requested is set out in the following table. These estimates are based on the post-enumeration survey of a 10 per cent. sample of properties which were vacant or from which the occupier was absent at the time of the 1981 census. No information is available on second homes which were occupied on census night.

Known Second Homes
District Authority	Number*	Percentage of total housing stock
BORDERS	840	2·0
Berwickshire	160	2·0
Ettrick and Lauderdale	230	1·7
Roxburgh	280	1·9
Tweeddale	170	2·8
CENTRAL	320	0·3
Clackmannan	40	0·2
Falkirk	80	0·2
Stirling	190	0·7
DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY	930	1·7
Annandale and Eskdale	120	0·9
Nithsdale	150	0·7
Stewartry	430	4·4
Wigtown	230	2·0
FIFE	820	0·6
Dunfermline	50	0·1
Kirkcaldy	100	0·2
North East Fife	670	2·5
GRAMPIAN	1,410	0·8
City of Aberdeen	240	0·3
Banff and Buchan	310	1·0
Gordon	250	1·0
Kincardine and Deeside	190	1·2
Moray	410	1·3
HIGHLAND	2,200	3·0
Badenoch and Strathspey	350	8·3
Caithness	110	1·1
Inverness	190	0·9
Lochaber	340	4·6
Nairn	40	1·0
Ross and Cromarty	460	2·6
Sye and Lochalsh	360	8·1
Sutherland	360	6·0
LOTHIAN	1,150	0·4
East Lothian	490	1·6
City of Edinburgh	590	0·3
Midlothian	40	0·1
West Lothian	30	0·1
STRATHCLYDE	5,670	0·6
Argyll and Bute	2,440	8·4
Bearsden and Milngavie	—	—
Clydebank	20	0·1
Clydesdale	160	0·8
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	10	—
Cumnock and Doon Valley	20	0·1
Cunninghame	1,520	2·9
Dumbarton	160	0·6
East Kilbride	20	0·1
Eastwood	10	—
City of Glasgow	490	0·2
Hamilton	40	0·1
Inverclyde	70	0·2
Kilmarnock and Loudoun	40	0·1
Kyle and Garrick	480	1·1
Monklands	50	0·1
Motherwell	10	—
Renfrew	100	0·1
Strathkelvin	20	0·1
TAYSIDE	1,510	1·0
Angus	540	1·5

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the proportions by country, including the home countries, wherein the owners of second homes in Scotland have their principal place of residence.

The information requested is set out in the following table. The estimates are based on the number of known second homes identified by a survey of a 10 per cent. sample of vacant or occupier absent properties at the time of the 1981 census. No information is available on second homes which were occupied on census night.

Principal place of residence	per cent.
Scotland	65
England	17
Wales	—
Northern Ireland	—
Eire	—
Elsewhere	4
Not known	13
TOTAL	100

As there were no known second homes identified in the sample which were owned by persons whose principal residence was in Wales, Northern Ireland or Eire, this indicates that the percentages are likely to be small, though not necessarily zero. Information is available only for the countries listed.