Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2019

11. Derelict and Urban Vacant Land: Previous Uses and Other Characteristics

11.1 This section focuses on previous uses of derelict and urban vacant land before it fell out of use. Information is also provided on how long derelict and urban vacant land has lain out of use and how developable that land is.

11.2 In general former agricultural land is only included if it is characterised by specific unsightliness or neglect. However, in some instances former agricultural land is released for development and is then classed as vacant if either the land is prepared for development or development has started on the land.

Table 13 - Previous uses of Derelict and Urban Vacant Land ^1,5

Previous Use	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land			Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land
	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Urban Vacant Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Total V&D Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites
Agriculture	175	2	124	231	13	122	405	4	246
Business Class	4	*	7	8	*	9	12	*	16
Community & Health	586	7	134	90	5	70	676	6	204
Defence	1,242	14	38	97	5	24	1,340	13	62
Education	131	2	87	206	11	140	337	3	227
Forestry/Woodland	22	*	12	15	1	6	36	*	18
Green/Environmental	1	*	1	-	-	-	1	*	1
Manufacturing	1,855	22	279	277	15	117	2,132	20	396
Mineral Activity	3,049	35	229	17	1	16	3,067	29	245
Nature Conservation	8	*	1	-	-	-	8	*	1
Offices	7	*	15	12	1	18	19	*	33
Other General Industry2	430	5	143	122	7	100	552	5	243
Passive Open Space	24	*	16	62	3	47	86	1	63
Prepared Ground	29	*	14	83	5	30	112	1	44
Recreation & Leisure3	108	1	75	67	4	69	175	2	144
Residential	138	2	207	263	15	347	401	4	554
Retailing	15	*	45	39	2	54	54	1	99
Storage	130	2	71	56	3	48	186	2	119
Transport	343	4	121	75	4	69	419	4	190
Utility Services	148	2	30	8	*	17	156	1	47
Wholesale Distribution	12	*	10	23	1	10	36	*	20
Other	146	2	77	49	3	50	195	2	127
Total of categorised sites	8,605	100	1,736	1,799	100	1,363	10,404	100	3,099
Unknown4	261		150	261		261	521		411
Total	8,866		1,886	2,060		1,624	10,926		3,510

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding .

2. Excluding manufacturing.

3. Excluding passive open space.

4. Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentages.

5. Figures do not include urban vacant sites in settlements with a population of less than 2,000. These are reported separately in the Annex.

11.3 In 2019 the previous use was unknown for 261 hectares (3%) of derelict land and 261 hectares (13%) of urban vacant land. Where previous use is known, 35% of derelict land had previously been used for mineral activity (3,049 hectares), 22% for manufacturing (1,855 hectares) and 14% for defence (1,242 hectares). For urban vacant land, where previous use is known, the largest areas had former manufacturing uses (15%, 277 hectares) or residential uses (15%, 263 hectares) (Table 13).

11.4 Where the time a site has lain unused was known, 33% (1,580 hectares) of urban vacant or derelict land within settlements and 36% (1,995 hectares) within the countryside had been unused since before 1991 (Table 14 and Table 15). Across Scotland 3,575 hectares of urban vacant and derelict land has been unused for at least 25 years. There is considerable variation at council level for how long land has been unused.

Table 14 - Sites in Settlements - date identified as derelict/urban vacant land ^1,2,3,7

Local Authority	Pre-19914		1991-20004		2001-20054		2006-20104		2011-20154		2016-20194		Unknown4	Total
	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	Area (ha)
Aberdeen City	4	12	2	6	3	9	2	5	7	18	18	50	16	52
Aberdeenshire	-	-	4	12	2	5	6	18	7	21	15	44	29	63
Angus	6	12	10	19	22	44	10	21	1	2	1	2	64	115
Argyll and Bute5	7	48	*	2	-	-	4	27	3	21	*	2	12	27
Clackmannanshire	3	18	-	-	1	6	1	6	8	51	3	19	-	16
Dumfries and Galloway	35	59	2	3	11	18	10	17	2	4	-	-	42	101
Dundee City	34	18	38	20	27	14	27	14	26	14	38	20	3	191
East Ayrshire	50	54	22	24	9	10	10	11	2	2	*	*	28	121
East Dunbartonshire	20	51	8	20	1	1	-	-	11	28	-	-	-	39
East Lothian	1	5	1	3	1	2	6	24	16	66	-	-	7	32
East Renfrewshire	8	17	16	33	15	31	2	3	6	13	1	2	-	48
City of Edinburgh	11	10	19	17	4	4	44	41	14	13	15	14	42	150
Falkirk	33	17	8	4	96	49	14	7	37	19	9	5	15	212
Fife	88	27	86	27	87	27	42	13	21	6	-	-	8	332
Glasgow City	400	44	217	24	77	8	145	16	56	6	24	3	*	918
Highland6	173	78	27	12	15	7	4	2	3	2	-	-	17	240
Inverclyde	17	11	21	14	10	7	23	15	67	45	13	8	*	151
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park5	1	42	-	-	1	58	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3
Midlothian	29	58	3	6	4	7	1	2	2	4	11	22	-	50
Moray	-	-	-	-	8	54	-	-	6	39	1	7	-	15
Na h-Eileanan Siar	-	-	2	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	8
North Ayrshire	178	36	135	28	79	16	80	16	4	1	13	3	4	494
North Lanarkshire	202	20	406	41	25	3	200	20	67	7	100	10	*	999
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross5	1	3	2	5	6	13	12	27	21	48	2	4	3	46
Renfrewshire	34	28	25	20	18	14	43	35	3	3	1	1	-	125
Scottish Borders	4	30	2	19	-	-	2	20	4	30	*	2	40	52
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	*	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
South Ayrshire	50	56	16	18	4	4	13	14	*	*	7	7	18	109
South Lanarkshire	67	37	10	5	19	10	25	14	33	19	25	14	46	226
Stirling5	1	3	3	16	1	3	11	51	3	12	3	15	11	33
West Dunbartonshire5	74	46	36	22	25	15	7	4	13	8	8	5	*	163
West Lothian	47	70	-	-	12	18	2	3	5	7	1	1	38	106
Scotland	1,580	33	1,121	23	582	12	747	16	449	9	309	6	452	5,239

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Figures are for total vacant land in settlements of 2,000 and over and derelict land in all settlements. Settlements as defined by local authorities in their latest council approved local plans (Annex Section A.5).

3. See Annex D for details of council participation in different years.

4. Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentage values.

5. From 2011 Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park took responsibility for surveying vacant and derelict land within the park boundaries. Prior to 2011 these sites were classified within the relevant local authority boundary.

6. Highland has not updated their survey since 2015 so their figures have been carried over from 2015.

7. Figures do not include urban vacant sites in settlements with a population of less than 2,000. These are reported separately in the Annex.

Table 15 - Sites in the countryside - date identified as derelict or urban vacant land ^1,2,3

Local Authority	Pre-19914		1991-20004		2001-20054		2006-20104		2011-20154		2016-20194		Unknown4	Total
	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	%	Area (ha)	Area (ha)
Aberdeen City	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Aberdeenshire	13	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	13
Angus	179	87	2	1	-	-	18	9	7	4	-	-	1	206
Argyll and Bute5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	29	29
Clackmannanshire	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	67	12	33	-	36
Dumfries and Galloway	221	100	-	-	-	-	*	*	-	-	-	-	*	221
Dundee City	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Ayrshire	122	7	1	*	-	-	-	-	1,507	92	-	-	50	1,680
East Dunbartonshire	9	45	1	3	-	-	-	-	10	52	-	-	9	28
East Lothian	11	21	16	31	1	2	24	46	-	-	-	-	5	56
East Renfrewshire	-	-	2	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
City of Edinburgh	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	2
Falkirk	28	64	3	7	7	16	6	13	*	1	-	-	1	46
Fife	129	35	84	23	119	32	38	10	2	*	-	-	17	389
Glasgow City	23	65	13	35	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	36
Highland6	725	67	82	8	256	24	23	2	-	-	-	-	16	1,102
Inverclyde	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park5	-	-	-	-	4	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
Midlothian	44	66	19	29	-	-	2	3	1	1	*	1	4	71
Moray	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Na h-Eileanan Siar	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	20	3	38	6	635	92	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	693
North Lanarkshire	92	24	19	5	19	5	8	2	152	39	96	25	1	388
Orkney Islands	32	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	32
Perth and Kinross5	1	11	-	-	3	29	3	26	3	29	1	5	3	14
Renfrewshire	-	-	104	98	-	-	-	-	2	2	-	-	-	106
Scottish Borders	5	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	14
Shetland Islands	3	100	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	6
South Ayrshire	13	77	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	21	1	3	2	19
South Lanarkshire	82	66	9	7	28	23	5	4	-	-	-	-	27	151
Stirling5	101	98	2	2	-	-	*	*	-	-	-	-	*	103
West Dunbartonshire5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	*	100	-	*
West Lothian	141	61	35	15	54	24	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	237
Scotland	1,995	36	431	8	1,126	20	128	2	1,711	31	110	2	186	5,686

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Figures are for derelict land in the countryside.

3. See Annex D for details of council participation in different years.

4. Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentage values.

5. From 2011 Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park took responsibility for surveying vacant and derelict land within the park boundaries. Prior to 2011, these sites were classified within the relevant local authority boundary.

6. Highland has not updated their survey since 2015 so their figures have been carried over from 2015.

11.5 Development potential of derelict and urban vacant land is reported by Local Authorities, based on their expectation of when land is likely to be developed. Within Scotland, 22% of all derelict land with known development potential is estimated to be developable in the short term, as is 46% of urban vacant land with known development potential. The higher proportion of urban vacant land estimated to be developed in the short term is to be expected given derelict land by definition requires some form of rehabilitation before new development can commence. Overall, 26% of all derelict and urban vacant land within Scotland with known development potential has been estimated to be developable in the short term. Across Scotland, 26% of derelict land and 2% of urban vacant land is seen by local authorities as being uneconomic to develop and/or is viewed as suitable to reclaim for a ‘soft’ end use (i.e. non-built use) (Table 16).

Table 16 - Development potential of Derelict and Urban Vacant Land ¹

Development Potential	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land5			Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land5
	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Urban Vacant Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Total Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites
Developable - Short Term2	1,723	22	491	889	46	624	2,613	26	1,115
Developable - Medium Term3	2,444	30	455	739	38	580	3,183	32	1,035
Developable - Undetermined	1,740	22	555	274	14	287	2,014	20	842
Uneconomic to Develop/Reclamation for 'Soft' End Use	2,108	26	185	45	2	49	2,153	22	234
Total for sites with known development potential	8,015		1,686	1,948		1,540	9,962		3,226
Unknown4	851		200	112		84	963		284
Total	8,866		1,886	2,060		1,624	10,926		3,510

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Expectation of development within five years.

3. Expectation of development between five to ten years.

4. Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentage values.

5. Figures do not include urban vacant sites in settlements with a population of less than 2,000. These are reported separately in the Annex.

11.6 In 2019, a majority of all derelict and urban vacant land with known ownership had a single private owner, 72% (7,193 hectares). 22% (2,225 hectares) of derelict and urban vacant land with known ownership had a single public owner. The remaining 6% is split with 4% (422 hectares) mixed public and private ownership, 1% (134 hectares) multiple private owners and 1% (80 hectares) multiple public owners. Of the 10,926 hectares of derelict and urban vacant land reported in 2019, 8% (872 hectares) has ownership unknown to the local authority (Table 17).

Table 17 - Ownership of Derelict and Urban Vacant Land ¹

Ownership	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land3			Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land3
	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land (by Area)2	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Urban Vacant Land (by Area)2	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	% of Total Land (by Area)2	No. of Sites
Single Owner: Public	1,395	17	395	830	45	722	2,225	22	1,117
Single Owner: Private	6,371	78	1,058	822	45	625	7,193	72	1,683
Multiple Owners: Public	44	1	21	36	2	23	80	1	44
Multiple Owners: Private	94	1	33	40	2	18	134	1	51
Mixed Owners	309	4	80	113	6	58	422	4	138
Total where ownership known	8,212		1,587	1,841		1,446	10,053		3,033
Single Owner: Unknown2	654		299	219		178	872		477
Total	8,866		1,886	2,060		1,624	10,926		3,510

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentage values.

3. Figures do not include urban vacant sites in settlements with a population of less than 2,000. These are reported separately in the Annex.