asked Her Majesty's Government:How many empty houses are owned by area health authorities, the Home Office, Ministry of Defence, county councils and water authorities in England and Wales.

The Home Office owns dwellings used by prison staff and their families; approximately 1,700 of these houses were vacant at the end of July 1980. The Ministry of Defence owns all Service married quarters and civilian staff houses and 22,700 of these were vacant in July 1980. These figures include dwellings vacant by reason of repair, renovation or awaiting occupancy or sale.I would invite the noble Baroness to get in touch with the area health and water authorities and county councils for the numbers of vacant properties in their ownership.