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Statistical Bulletin ENV/2002/1: Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2001

2.10 The amount of vacant and derelict land recorded in the survey can change between years for a number of reasons. Sites may increase in size or new sites may be added to the survey ( Table 16), partial or complete sites may be brought back into productive use ( Table 17), and sites may be removed for definitional reasons ( Annex Table B) or due to naturalisation ( Annex Table C). Because sites may be removed from the survey for definitional reasons, a reduction in the amount of vacant and derelict land recorded does not necessarily indicate that all the land removed was brought back into productive use.

2.11 The distribution of vacant and derelict land by Local Enterprise Company (LEC) area is shown in Table 3. The four Local Enterprise Company areas with highest levels of vacant and derelict land are the Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire (2,624 hectares), Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (1,403 hectares), Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian (1,124 hectares), and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire (1,013 hectares). Together, they contain 58 per cent of the recorded vacant and derelict land in Scotland.

Table 3: Vacant and derelict land ¹ by Local Enterprise Company area, 2001 ²

1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 1993 data have been used for Highland, and 2000 data have been used for Moray

2.12 LEC areas provide the most closely consistent geographical boundaries upon which a time series can be constructed prior to 1996. The only major change following local government reorganisation in 1996 was the expansion of the Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire boundary to include Rutherglen and Cambuslang from Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, and Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and the 'Northern Corridor'* from Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire. Table 4 shows the distribution of vacant and derelict land through time. The entire series has been adjusted so that Cumbernauld and Kilsyth are included in the figures for the Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire and not Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire. The footnotes to the table describe the treatment of other boundary changes. Where a local authority did not participate in the survey in any given year, the most recently collected data have been used to provide estimates for the relevant LEC area. Annex Table D shows participation rates by local authorities. As noted in paragraph 2.10, some of the reduction in the amount of vacant and derelict land recorded between years is due to land being removed from the survey for definitional reasons.

2.13 Overall, there has been a decrease in the amount of vacant and derelict land recorded from 15,400 hectares in 1993 to 10,607 hectares in 2001 ( Table 4). This is partly attributable to land being brought back into productive use, and partly due to land being removed for definitional reasons or due to naturalisation.

Table 4: Vacant and derelict land ¹ by Local Enterprise Company area, 1993 - 2001 ²

1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 See Annex Table D for details of council participation in different years
3 The 'Northern Corridor' (part of the North Lanarkshire Council area) was included in the Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire area until 1995, after which it was transferred to Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire .
4 Rutherglen and Cambuslang were included in the Scottish Enterprise Glasgow area until 1995, after which they were transferred to Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire.
5 Based on 1993 data provided by the Highland region
R1 Revised to remove a number of West Lothian sites included in error in 1999 and 2000
R2 1999 data are used to provide a best estimate for North Lanarkshire for 2000, due to problems identified with the 2000 dataset following the introduction of new recording procedures

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