6. Length of time land has lain vacant and derelict

6.1 Where the length of time a site has been vacant or derelict, was known, it was found that 42 per cent of derelict land had been lying derelict since before 1980. Thirty two per cent of vacant land had also been lying unused since then, with a further 24 per cent becoming vacant between 1981 and 1985. Overall, only 23 per cent of land had become vacant or derelict during the last seven years.

6.2 It can be seen in Table 12 that the larger the area of the site, the longer the site tends to lie vacant or derelict. Sixty six per cent of sites over 20 hectares had lain vacant or derelict, where known, for at least the last twelve years, whilst only 55 per cent of sites less than 1 hectare had lain vacant or derelict since the same period.