To ask Her Majesty's Government how many selective licensing areas are in existence; what are their names, locations, relevant local authorities and dates of establishment; how many houses are included in each; and what percentage of those houses are owned by private landlords. [HL4272]

To ask Her Majesty's Government which applications by local authorities for selective licensing areas have been rejected; and for what reasons. [HL4273]

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have commissioned research into the effectiveness of selective licensing areas (SLAs); if so, what research has taken place; and what is their assessment of the success of SLAs. [HL4274]

The table below highlights those local authorities that have been granted approval to operate selective licensing schemes under the Housing Act 2004.

We invite local authorities to work with departmental officials in the development of their selective licensing proposals so that the applications when submitted are consistent with published criteria. This has meant that the Secretary of State has not rejected any applications.

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has conducted a review of local authority implementation of the licensing provisions under the Housing Act 2004, and this has included an assessment of those selective licensing regimes that were in operation at the time of the research. The final report is due to be published in July 2009.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many empty dwelling management orders have been made; and, in each case, by which local authority. [HL4275]

To date, 24 interim empty dwelling management orders (EDMOs) have been approved by the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) since the legislation came into effect in April 2006. However, local authorities claim that in many cases the threat of an EDMO has been sufficient to make owners take action to bring long-term empty homes back into use.

We are confident that the legislation is beginning to work well. We always intended that the legislation should be used only as a last resort where other measures have proved unsuccessful. We want to encourage voluntary reoccupation of empty homes but this can only work well where there is realistic compulsion to back them up. EDMOs provide this compulsion and should therefore be a key component of a comprehensive empty property strategy.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they can take in relation to houses owned by private landlords which are empty and derelict or in poor condition in selective licensing areas (SLAs); and whether such action is specific to SLAs. [HL4277]

Local authorities have a range of enforcement powers available to them to use where properties are left empty and which may have become derelict or be in poor condition. Local authorities can use compulsory purchase orders where properties are left empty or they can use an enforced sale procedure where empty properties are derelict or in poor condition. The Housing Act 2004 also introduced empty dwelling management orders for properties that have been left empty for longer than six months. These enforcement powers are not specific to selective licensing areas.

In selective licensing areas, all private landlords will need to be identified by local authorities as fit and proper persons and must ensure that satisfactory management standards are in place at their properties. Local authorities have powers to take over the management of privately rented properties in selective licensing areas, known as interim management orders (IMOs), if a licence cannot be granted.