Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2002 - Statistical Bulletin ENV/2003/1

2 Vacant and derelict land

Table 1: Vacant and derelict land ¹ by local authority area, 2002

Local Authority	Derelict Land			Vacant Land			Total Vacant and Derelict Land
Local Authority	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land (by Area) ²	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Vacant Land (by Area) ²	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Total V&D Land (by Area) ²	No. of Sites
Aberdeen City ³	77	1	25	75	2	53	152	1	78
Aberdeenshire	78	1	21	44	1	29	122	1	50
Angus	179	2	32	36	1	23	216	2	55
Argyll & Bute	14	*	17	32	1	47	46	*	64
Clackmannanshire	48	1	23	27	1	19	76	1	42
Dumfries & Galloway	307	4	37	52	2	20	360	3	57
Dundee City	49	1	21	197	6	199	247	2	220
East Ayrshire	275	4	63	80	2	70	355	3	133
East Dunbartonshire	85	1	21	49	2	23	135	1	44
East Lothian	99	1	42	28	1	18	127	1	60
East Renfrewshire	19	*	5	21	1	26	40	*	31
Edinburgh, City of ⁴	111	1	26	56	2	32	167	2	58
Eilean Siar	1	*	2	10	*	8	11	*	10
Falkirk	132	2	42	147	5	94	279	3	136
Fife	582	7	72	85	3	69	667	6	141
Glasgow City	767	10	289	616	19	624	1,383	13	913
Highland ⁵	950	12	225	231	7	181	1,181	11	406
Inverclyde	64	1	43	63	2	84	127	1	127
Midlothian	257	3	89	38	1	21	295	3	110
Moray ⁶	34	*	36	6	*	11	41	*	47
North Ayrshire ⁷	270	3	105	158	5	111	428	4	216
North Lanarkshire	1,090	14	227	513	16	215	1,603	14	442
Orkney Islands	12	*	14	10	*	13	22	*	27
Perth & Kinross	68	1	19	43	1	14	111	1	33
Renfrewshire	823	11	53	167	5	126	989	9	179
Scottish Borders ⁸	41	1	39	27	1	45	69	1	84
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	2	*	5	2	*	5
South Ayrshire	122	2	33	31	1	20	152	1	53
South Lanarkshire	479	6	130	172	5	140	651	6	270
Stirling	161	2	27	43	1	39	203	2	66
West Dunbartonshire	150	2	70	74	2	70	224	2	140
West Lothian	449	6	47	124	4	30	573	5	77
Scotland	7,796	*100*	1,895	3,258	*100*	2,479	11,053	*100*	4,374

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding
2. Refers to the percentage of vacant/derelict land recorded in Scotland
3. 2001 data have been used for this authority (Aberdeen City)
4. 2001 data have been used for this authority (Edinburgh, City of)
5. A partial survey was completed for Highland - see Annex A.9
6. 2000 data have been used for this authority (Moray)
7. 2001 data have been used for this authority (North Ayrshire)
8. 2001 data have been used for this authority (Scottish Borders)

2.1 Sites covering less than 0.1 hectare are excluded unless a group of adjacent sites exceeds 0.1 hectare and can be counted as a single contiguous site. The information recorded in the survey is listed in the Annex.

2.2 Derelict land (and buildings) is that which has been so damaged by development or use that it is incapable of being developed for beneficial use without rehabilitation, and which is not being used for either the purpose for which it is held, or for a use acceptable in a local plan. The main exceptions are operational sites where rehabilitation would not be possible or appropriate within five years, and land which is derelict through natural causes (for example neglected woodland or farmland) and which appears to have blended into the landscape. All sites where contamination is known or suspected are classed as derelict.

2.3 Vacant land is located in urban settlements (defined here as possessing a population of 2,000 or more) or within one kilometre of the edge of such settlements which is considered to display the characteristics of urban vacant land; that is, land which is unused or unsightly, or which would benefit from development or improvement. The main exceptions to this definition are for land held for operational needs, agricultural land, urban fringe land and open space within the built up area, even where these offer the prospects of future development. Full details of the definitions are given in the Annex.

Vacant and derelict land by council

2.4 Table 1 shows that in 2002 there were 11,053 hectares of vacant and derelict land, of which 71 per cent was classified as derelict (7,796 hectares). Four councils, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow City, Highland and Renfrewshire together contain 47 per cent of the recorded vacant and derelict land. The same four councils make up 47 per cent of all derelict land while Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire make up 35 per cent of all vacant land.

Derelict Land

2.5 Chart 2 shows the ten councils with the highest percentage of derelict land in relation to their administrative area. The figures for all councils can be found in Annex Table A.

Chart 2: Derelict land as a percentage of local authority administrative area, 2002

chart

2.6 Approximately 4.4 per cent of Glasgow City's, 3.2 per cent of Renfrewshire's and 2.3 per cent of North Lanarkshire's land area is recorded as derelict. Together, they account for 35 per cent of all recorded derelict land in Scotland.

Vacant Land

2.7 Chart 3 shows the ten councils with the highest amount of vacant land.

Chart 3: Vacant land (hectares) by local authority, 2002

chart

2.8 Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire together account for 35 per cent of all recorded vacant land in Scotland.

Comparison of vacant and derelict land (hectares) between 1996-2002

2.9 Table 2 shows the trend in the area of recorded vacant and derelict land in the years 1996-2002. It should be noted that some of the councils did not participate in the 2002 and/or earlier surveys. In these cases the most recent available data have been used to provide an estimate for the appropriate year.

2.10 Since 1996, the total amount of vacant and derelict land decreased by 2,048 hectares. However, in the past year the area of vacant and derelict land has increased by 536 hectares. This increase was confined entirely to derelict land, which grew by a total of 971 hectares, while vacant land fell by 434 hectares.

2.11 The increase can be largely attributed to two local authorities, which both experienced large increases in the area of derelict land. In Highland, the amount of derelict land since the previous survey (conducted in 1993) increased by 635 hectares (through the addition of a number of sites), while in Renfrewshire one derelict site increased by 566 hectares compared to 2001. Highland experienced a decrease in vacant land by 267 hectares and North Lanarkshire witnessed a decrease of 94 hectares of vacant land and 242 hectares of derelict land.

Table 2: Vacant and derelict land ¹ by local authority area, 1996-2002 ²

Local Authority	Derelict Land Area (ha)							Vacant Land Area (ha)							Total Vacant and Derelict Land Area (ha)
	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Aberdeen City	78	77	77	68	68	77	77	112	106	106	71	61	75	75	190	184	184	139	129	152	152
Aberdeenshire	132	131	93	93	92	90	78	58	60	59	59	53	53	44	190	191	152	152	145	143	122
Angus	337	333	339	227	186	184	179	52	42	43	29	29	34	36	389	375	381	257	215	217	216
Argyll & Bute	22	22	17	17	17	17	14	50	41	38	38	37	37	32	73	63	55	55	54	54	46
Clackmannanshire	49	36	36	36	30	35	48	22	21	28	28	27	20	27	71	57	64	63	57	55	76
Dumfries & Galloway	304	305	305	303	306	307	307	61	65	67	61	55	58	52	365	371	372	364	361	364	360
Dundee City	79	79	71	60 ^R1	60 ^R1	46 ^R1	49	203	200	217	193 ^R1	193 ^R1	213 ^R1	197	282	279	288	254 ^R1	254 ^R1	259 ^R1	247
East Ayrshire	445	445	453	400	349	349	275	119	119	114	77	92	77	80	564	564	568	477	441	426	355
East Dunbartonshire	57	66	66	64	66	68	85	52	47	43	36	27	25	49	109	113	109	100	94	94	135
East Lothian	218	210	197	80	101	100	99	43	40	39	26	39	34	28	261	250	236	106	139	134	127
East Renfrewshire	18	18	15	13	13	13	19	32	36	28	24	20	19	21	50	54	42	37	33	32	40
Edinburgh, City of	84	79	80	68	111	111	111	70	66	63	54	51	56	56	154	145	143	122	162	167	167
Eilean Siar	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	14	11	12	10	10	10	10	16	13	13	11	11	11	11
Falkirk	184	183	110	103	103	102 ^R2	132	218	195	123	101	101	154 ^R2	147	402	378	233	204	204	256 ^R2	279
Fife	614	620	798	772	613	584	582	153	135	150	203	154	81	85	767	754	948	975	767	665	667
Glasgow City	894	899	883	831	804	756	767	726	691	709	737	682	646	616	1,620	1,590	1,592	1,568	1,486	1,402	1,383
Highland	315	315	315	315	315	315	950	498	498	498	498	498	498	231	813	813	813	813	813	813	1,181
Inverclyde	50	69	72	65	67	65	64	80	53	52	58	60	67	63	131	122	124	123	126	132	127
Midlothian	400	363	332	342	333	256	257	58	61	60	52	49	38	38	458	424	393	394	382	294	295
Moray	34	34	34	34	34	34	34	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	41	41	41	41	41	41	41
North Ayrshire	243	239	230	245	237	270	270	129	153	153	168	164	158	158	372	392	383	414	401	428	428
North Lanarkshire	2,179	1,651	1,385	1,335	1,335	1,332	1,090	579	716	572	686	686	607	513	2,757	2,367	1,958	2,021	2,021	1,939	1,603
Orkney Islands	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	11	25	14	10	10	25	25	23	38	26	22	22
Perth & Kinross	75	78	86	101	98	79	68	44	46	72	73	66	52	43	119	123	157	174	164	131	111
Renfrewshire	95	61	244	242	243	256	823	252	198	177	171	158	172	167	347	259	421	413	400	428	989
Scottish Borders	54	57	55	48	48	41	41	22	33	33	31	31	27	27	76	90	87	79	79	69	69
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
South Ayrshire	21	25	28	28	132	124	122	89	108	123	123	32	32	31	111	133	152	152	164	156	152
South Lanarkshire	514	463	457	486	497	502	479	233	220	205	203	205	185	172	747	684	662	689	702	686	651
Stirling	125	125	120	146	170	165	161	48	48	41	73	41	35	43	173	173	161	219	211	200	203
West Dunbartonshire	85	99	112	117	123	123	150	129	132	131	113	102	93	74	214	230	243	230	225	216	224
West Lothian	762	762	762	584	584	409	449	453	453	453	342	342	120	124	1,216	1,216	1,216	925	925	529	573
Scotland	8,482	7,858	7,787	7,237 ^R1	7,148 ^R1	6,825 ^R1,R2	7,796	4,618	4,612	4,425	4,371 ^R1	4,086 ^R1	3,692 ^R1,R2	3,258	13,101	12,470	12,212	11,608 ^R1	11,233 ^R1	10,517 ^R1,R2	11,053

1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 See Annex D for details of council participation in different years
R1 Revised to correct 2 Dundee City sites included in error in 1999, 2000 and 2001
R2 Revised to remove a number of Falkirk sites included in error in 2001.

2.12 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, previous reductions in the amount of vacant and derelict land recorded may not necessarily indicate that all the land removed was brought back into productive use.

2.13 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 Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire (2,254 hectares), Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (1,383 hectares), Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian (1,162 hectares), and Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire (1,157 hectares). Together, they contain 54 per cent of the recorded vacant and derelict land in Scotland.

Table 3: Vacant and derelict land ¹ by Local Enterprise Company area, 2002 ^2,3

Local Enterprise Company	Derelict Land			Vacant Land			Total Vacant and Derelict Land
Local Enterprise Company	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land (by Area)	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Vacant Land (by Area)	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Total V&D Land (by Area)	No. of Sites
Scottish Enterprise
SE Ayrshire	667	9	201	268	8	201	936	8	402
SE Borders	41	1	39	27	1	45	69	1	84
SE Dumfries & Galloway	307	4	37	52	2	20	360	3	57
SE Dunbartonshire	241	3	97	132	4	98	373	3	195
SE Edinburgh & Lothian	916	12	204	246	8	101	1,162	11	305
SE Fife	582	7	72	85	3	69	667	6	141
SE Forth Valley	341	4	92	218	7	152	558	5	244
SE Glasgow	767	10	289	616	19	624	1,383	13	913
SE Grampian	155	2	46	118	4	82	274	2	128
SE Lanarkshire	1,569	20	357	685	21	355	2,254	20	712
SE Renfrewshire	906	12	101	250	8	236	1,157	10	337
SE Tayside	297	4	72	276	8	236	573	5	308
Highlands & Islands Enterprise
Argyll & The Islands Enterprise	8	*	11	23	1	42	31	*	53
Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise	82	1	83	40	1	52	122	1	135
Inverness & Nairn Enterprise	87	1	19	58	2	40	146	1	59
Lochaber Limited	30	*	33	19	1	14	49	*	47
Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey Enterprise	47	1	60	18	1	25	65	1	85
Orkney Enterprise	12	*	14	10	*	13	22	*	27
Ross & Cromarty Enterprise	730	9	35	99	3	56	829	8	91
Shetland Enterprise	-	-	-	2	*	5	2	*	5
Skye & Lochalsh Enterprise	9	*	31	2	*	5	11	*	36
Western Isles Enterprise	1	*	2	10	*	8	11	*	10
Scotland	7,796	*100*	1,895	3,258	*100*	2,479	11,053	*100*	4,374

1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 2001 data have been used for Aberdeen City, Edinburgh City, North Ayrshire and the Scottish Borders
3 2000 data has been used for Moray

2.14 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 (See Annex A.10 for details). 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 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.

2.15 Since 1993, there has been a decrease in the amount of vacant and derelict land recorded from 15,400 hectares in 1993 to 11,053 in 2002 (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. The biggest decreases over time have been seen in Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire (1,531 hectares), Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian (1,012 hectares) and Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (754 hectares).

Table 4: Vacant and derelict land ¹ by Local Enterprise Company area, 1993-2002 ²

Local Enterprise Company	Derelict Land Area (ha)										Vacant Land Area (ha)										Total Vacant and Derelict Land Area (ha)
	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Scottish Enterprise
SE Ayrshire	592	625	623	709	709	712	676	721	746	667	505	463	438	337	380	391	369	288	267	268	1,097	1,089	1,061	1,046	1,089	1,102	1,045	1,009	1,013	936
SE Borders	60	49	49	54	57	55	48	48	41	41	128	26	26	22	33	33	31	31	27	27	188	75	75	76	90	87	79	79	69	69
SE Dumfries & Galloway	346	309	304	304	305	305	303	306	307	307	67	59	61	61	65	67	61	55	58	52	413	369	365	365	371	372	364	361	364	360
SE Dunbartonshire ³	229	246	229	158	178	184	187	195	198	241	378	301	267	197	189	185	160	141	129	132	608	548	496	355	368	369	347	336	327	373
SE Edinburgh & Lothian	1,516	1,528	1,468	1,465	1,415	1,372	1,073	1,127	876	916	658	685	655	625	620	615	474	481	248	246	2,174	2,213	2,123	2,089	2,035	1,987	1,547	1,608	1,124	1,162
SE Fife	1,118	656	626	614	620	798	772	613	584	582	97	48	155	153	135	150	203	154	81	85	1,214	703	781	767	754	948	975	767	665	667
SE Forth Valley ^R2	299	296	356	358	344	266	285	303	303 ^R2	341	416	379	330	288	264	191	202	169	209 ^R2	218	714	675	686	646	608	457	487	472	512 ^R2	558
SE Glasgow ^3,4	1,073	1,247	1,224	894	899	883	840	813	756	767	1,063	888	882	726	691	709	753	700	647	616	2,137	2,135	2,105	1,620	1,590	1,592	1,593	1,513	1,403	1,383
SE Grampian	466	220	216	210	208	171	162	161	167	155	263	211	188	170	167	165	130	115	128	118	729	432	405	379	374	335	291	274	295	274
SE Lanarkshire ^3,4	2,808	2,840	2,702	2,693	2,114	1,842	1,812	1,823	1,834	1,569	977	792	717	812	936	778	873	874	790	685	3,785	3,632	3,419	3,504	3,050	2,620	2,686	2,697	2,624	2,254
SE Renfrewshire	143	135	121	163	148	331	320	322	334	906	448	353	347	364	287	257	253	237	259	250	591	488	468	527	434	587	573	559	593	1,157
SE Tayside ^R1	494	492	491	491	489	496	399 ^R1	355 ^R1	306 ^R1	297	311	300	301	299	288	331	359 ^R1	351 ^R1	289 ^R1	276	806	791	792	791	777	827	758 ^R1	707 ^R1	595 ^R1	573
Highlands & Islands Enterprise
Argyll & The Islands Enterprise	5	6	6	6	9	11	11	11	11	8	43	43	42	35	30	27	27	26	26	23	48	49	48	41	38	38	38	37	37	31
Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	63	82	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	40	118	118	118	118	118	118	118	118	118	122
Inverness & Nairn Enterprise	62	62	62	62	62	62	62	62	62	87	181	181	181	181	181	181	181	181	181	58	242	242	242	242	242	242	242	242	242	146
Lochaber Limited	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	41	30	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	25	19	66	66	66	66	66	66	66	66	66	49
Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey Enterprise	51	49	49	47	47	47	47	47	48	47	19	19	19	16	17	17	17	17	17	18	71	67	67	65	65	65	65	65	64	65
Orkney Enterprise	17	10	10	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	15	15	13	13	11	25	14	19	10	28	26	25	25	25	23	38	26	32	22
Ross & Cromarty Enterprise	128	128	128	128	128	128	128	128	128	730	225	225	225	225	225	225	225	225	225	99	352	352	352	352	352	352	352	352	352	829
Shetland Enterprise	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Skye & Lochalsh Enterprise	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
Western Isles Enterprise	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	1	1	1	8	15	15	14	11	12	10	10	10	10	9	15	15	16	13	13	11	11	11	11
Scotland	9,522	9,012	8,778	8,482	7,858	7,787	7,251 ^R1	7,161 ^R1	6,825 ^R1,2	7,796	5,879	5,082	4,944	4,618	4,612	4,425	4,434 ^R1	4,149 ^R1	3,692 ^R1,2	3,258	15,400	14,094	13,721	13,101	12,470	12,212	11,685 ^R1	11,310 ^R1	10,517 ^R1,2	11,053

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 SE Dunbartonshire until 1995, after which it was transferred to SE Lanarkshire.
4 Rutherglen and Cambuslang were included in the SE Glasgow area until 1995, after which they were transferred to SE Lanarkshire.
R1 Revised to correct 2 Dundee City sites included in error in 1999, 2000 and 2001
R2 Revised to remove a number of Falkirk sites included in error in 2001.

Summary Changes in the area of vacant and derelict land recorded in Scotland 2002.

2.16 Table 5 shows a summary of the changes in the area of vacant and derelict land recorded in Scotland in 2002. Overall, there were 1,142 hectares of new sites added to the survey (of which 68 per cent are situated in Highland where a survey was last conducted in 1993). 684 hectares of land were brought back into use, 352 were removed for definitional reasons and 217 hectares of land were removed due to naturalisation.

Table 5: Summary changes in the area of vacant and derelict land recorded in Scotland (hectares): 2002 ¹

New sites added to survey ²	1,142
Land removed and brought back into use	684
Land removed for definitional reasons	352
Land removed due to naturalisation	217
Reclaimed to vacant pending new use	1
Recorded total amount of vacant and derelict land	11,053

1 See Annex Table D for details of council participation in different years.
2 Sites that increase in size are not recorded separately in the survey, with the result that the total amount of vacant and derelict sites recorded in a particular year may be greater than that expected from the changes recorded since the previous year. This year, we estimate about 740 hectares have been added to the survey through sites increasing in size.

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