Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2019

6. Derelict and Urban Vacant Land: Location and Trends

6.1 In 2019 there were 10,926 hectares of derelict and urban vacant land, of which 81% (8,866 hectares) was classified as derelict. Four councils (East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Highland and North Ayrshire) together contain just over 50% of all recorded derelict and urban vacant land.

Table 2 - Derelict and Urban Vacant Land by Planning Authority ¹

Local Authority	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land5				Total Derelict
								and Urban Vacant Land5
	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 V&D Land (by Area)2	No. of Sites
Aberdeen City	13	*	15	39	2	28	52	*	43
Aberdeenshire	42	*	29	34	2	31	76	1	60
Angus	223	3	20	98	5	41	321	3	61
Argyll and Bute3	38	*	11	18	1	24	56	1	35
Clackmannanshire	41	*	12	11	1	14	52	*	26
Dumfries and Galloway	294	3	44	28	1	8	323	3	52
Dundee City	14	*	17	177	9	168	191	2	185
East Ayrshire	1,736	20	79	65	3	53	1,801	16	132
East Dunbartonshire	43	*	10	25	1	13	68	1	23
East Lothian	79	1	30	10	*	10	88	1	40
East Renfrewshire	34	*	22	16	1	17	50	*	39
City of Edinburgh	87	1	23	64	3	36	151	1	59
Falkirk	194	2	46	64	3	28	258	2	74
Fife	600	7	160	120	6	57	721	7	217
Glasgow City	530	6	242	424	21	446	954	9	688
Highland4	1,276	14	103	66	3	81	1,342	12	184
Inverclyde	59	1	46	93	5	56	151	1	102
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park3	6	*	7	1	*	2	7	*	9
Midlothian	100	1	36	22	1	18	121	1	54
Moray	7	*	7	8	*	11	15	*	18
Na h-Eileanan Siar	*	*	1	8	*	2	8	*	3
North Ayrshire	1,011	11	109	176	9	101	1,187	11	210
North Lanarkshire	1,218	14	400	169	8	112	1,387	13	512
Orkney Islands	32	*	1	.	-	.	32	*	1
Perth and Kinross3	24	*	45	36	2	17	60	1	62
Renfrewshire	149	2	25	82	4	76	231	2	101
Scottish Borders	46	1	58	21	1	13	67	1	71
Shetland Islands	6	*	6	1	*	2	7	*	8
South Ayrshire	110	1	61	18	1	18	128	1	79
South Lanarkshire	291	3	108	86	4	91	377	3	199
Stirling3	110	1	14	26	1	19	136	1	33
West Dunbartonshire3	148	2	56	15	1	14	163	1	70
West Lothian	304	3	43	39	2	17	343	3	60
Scotland	8,866	100	1,886	2,060	100	1,624	10,926	100	3,510

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. As a percentage of the total vacant/derelict land recorded in Scotland.

3. From 2011 Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park took responsibility for surveying vacant and derelict land within the park boundaries. These sites are no longer recorded in Argyll and Bute, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire local authority boundaries, and are separately identifiable as Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park from 2011. Prior to 2011, these sites were classified within the relevant local authority boundary.

4. Highland has not updated their survey since 2015, their 2019 figures have been carried over from 2015.

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.

6.2 3,510 sites were recorded in the 2019 survey. The seventeen largest sites (each over 100 hectares) collectively account for 3,293 hectares - 30% of all recorded derelict and urban vacant land. Those sites, all of which are derelict, include eight of the former opencast coal sites in East Ayrshire (1,240 hectares), Fearn and Fendom Airfields (collectively 681 hectares) and Ardersier Port (255 hectares) in Highland, two sites in North Ayrshire (553 hectares), a former airfield in Dumfries and Galloway (185 hectares), disused railway lines in Angus (165 hectares), the former Ravenscraig site in North Lanarkshire (111 hectares) and a former Royal Ordnance site at Bishopton, Renfrewshire (104 hectares).

In addition, a 170-hectare site, the former airbase at Edzell, Aberdeenshire is not included in the above figures but is noted as a vacant site in a small settlement (Annex Table 2).

6.3 There are 27 hectares of urban vacant and derelict land located within Scotland’s National Parks with 26% (7 hectares) in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs (LLTNP) and 74% (20 hectares) in Cairngorms (CNP).

Table 3 - Derelict and Urban Vacant Land located within Scotland's National Parks ^1,3

National Park	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land			Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land
	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 V&D Land (by Area)2	No. of Sites
Cairngorms	13	68%	9	7	91%	7	20	74%	16
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs	6	32%	7	1	9%	2	7	26%	9
Total	20	100%	16	8	100%	9	27	100%	25

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. As a percentage of the total vacant/derelict land recorded in Scotland's National Parks.

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.

6.4 There are 5,571 hectares of derelict and urban vacant land located within Scotland’s Strategic Development Plan (SDP) areas.

Table 4 - Derelict and Urban Vacant Land located within Scotland's Strategic Development Plan Areas ^1,3

Strategic Development Plan Area	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land			Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land
	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 V&D Land (by Area)2	No. of Sites
Aberdeen City & Shire	55	1%	43	73	5%	59	128	2%	102
Clydeplan	2,471	62%	909	911	58%	825	3,381	61%	1,734
SESplan	1,157	29%	307	269	17%	144	1,426	26%	451
TAYplan	319	8%	124	317	20%	233	636	11%	357
Total	4,002	100%	1383	1,570	100%	1261	5,571	100%	2,644

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. As a percentage of total vacant/derelict land recorded in Scotland's Strategic Development Plan Areas.

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.

The SDP areas comprise:

• Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Plan Area (Aberdeen City and Shire):
• Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan area (Clydeplan):

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire local authority areas (except the part of Aberdeenshire that forms part of CNP).

East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire local authority areas (except the part of West Dunbartonshire that forms part of of Loch Lomond and The Trosschs National Park).

• Edinburgh and South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan area (SESplan):

City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders, West Lothian and Fife (Kirkcaldy, Mid-Fife and Dunfermline local planning areas only) local authority areas.

• Dundee, Perth, Angus and North Fife Strategic Development Plan area (TAYplan): Angus (except the part of Angus that forms part of Cairngorms National Park), Dundee City, Perth and Kinross (except the part of Perth and Kinross that forms part of Loch Lomond and The Trosschs National Park) and Fife (St. Andrews and North Fife local planning areas only) local authority areas.

More information about SDP areas is available from Planning Circular 1/2013 on the Scottish Government website.

6.5 Table 5 shows the area of recorded derelict and urban vacant land from 2013 to 2019. A small number of councils did not participate in every survey during those years. In these cases, the previous years’ data is rolled forward until new data becomes available. Highland has not updated their data since 2015 so data for Highland is carried over from 2015 in this report. Details of participation in the survey is available in Annex Table 5.

6.6 Since the last survey there has been a net decrease of 164 hectares (1.5%) in Scotland’s total amount of derelict and urban vacant land, from 11,090 hectares in 2018 to 10,926 hectares in 2019. This net change is caused by the rehabilitation and reuse of some sites and others becoming vacant or derelict. In addition, there have been changes in the recorded areas of existing sites while other sites have become naturalised.

6.7 The total amount of derelict and urban vacant land in Scotland has shown a net decrease of 3% since 2013 (from 11,223 hectares in 2013 to 10,926 hectares in 2019). Excluding derelict mineral sites, the total amount of derelict and urban vacant land has decreased from 9,288 hectares in 2013 to 7,876 hectares in 2019 (15% decrease).

6.8 Changes in the recorded areas of derelict and urban vacant land since 2013 vary by council. 20 councils had decreases in levels of recorded derelict and urban vacant land, including Renfrewshire (down 76%), Midlothian (down 55%) and Dumfries and Galloway (down 34%). Twelve councils recorded more in 2019 than they did in 2013, including East Ayrshire with more than four times as much, Angus with an 85% increase and Clackmannanshire with an 84% increase. Aberdeen City reported the same area in 2019 and 2013 although there have been changes over the years between. Percentage changes for some councils are volatile due to there being only a small base of recorded land in 2013.

Table 5 - Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land by Planning Authority, 2013-2019 ^1,2,3

Local Authority	Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land Area (ha)7							% Change 2013-20195
	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Aberdeen City	52	47	38	38	35	43	52	0%
Aberdeenshire	75	71	71	79	80	79	76	2%
Angus	173	183	164	142	144	281	321	85%
Argyll and Bute4	34	31	59	58	58	58	56	67%
Clackmannanshire	28	36	32	74	64	57	52	84%
Dumfries and Galloway	492	491	463	465	320	320	323	-34%
Dundee City	196	211	215	204	182	184	191	-3%
East Ayrshire	351	2,553	2,541	2,457	2,401	1,810	1,801	413%
East Dunbartonshire	66	62	71	77	76	69	68	2%
East Lothian	72	70	91	95	92	88	88	22%
East Renfrewshire	60	60	55	55	51	52	50	-16%
City of Edinburgh	213	208	184	168	178	165	151	-29%
Falkirk	173	187	200	246	286	277	258	49%
Fife	948	954	744	741	743	740	721	-24%
Glasgow City	1,196	1,171	1,145	1,111	1,069	1,005	954	-20%
Highland6	1,382	1,373	1,342	1,342	1,342	1,342	1,342	-3%
Inverclyde	149	146	163	160	156	155	151	2%
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park4	30	30	27	27	27	7	7	-77%
Midlothian	272	217	201	192	122	121	121	-55%
Moray	22	21	15	15	15	16	15	-28%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	10	10	10	9	9	8	8	-22%
North Ayrshire	1,349	1,356	1,346	1,341	1,346	1,279	1,187	-12%
North Lanarkshire	1,318	1,313	1,278	1,243	1,298	1,361	1,387	5%
Orkney Islands	39	39	39	39	39	32	32	-19%
Perth and Kinross4	56	71	73	65	59	59	60	6%
Renfrewshire	957	927	913	860	272	255	231	-76%
Scottish Borders	82	76	75	75	70	68	67	-19%
Shetland Islands	8	7	6	6	7	7	7	-15%
South Ayrshire	102	101	107	106	105	118	128	26%
South Lanarkshire	475	472	461	411	422	390	377	-21%
Stirling4	167	156	155	143	140	136	136	-19%
West Dunbartonshire4	188	189	182	171	165	168	163	-13%
West Lothian	485	491	420	420	420	341	343	-29%
Scotland	11,223	13,328	12,885	12,635	11,792	11,090	10,926	-3%

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. See Annex Table 5 for details of council participation in different years.

3. During 2019, historical data for the years 2013-2018 were updated as a result of improved information. This included removing sites that should not have been included in previous years, adding sites that should have been included earlier and making any required changes to site size. Further information on this process is available in the Annex along with un-amended historical data for the survey years of 2000-2011.

4. From 2011 Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park took responsibility for surveying vacant and derelict land within the park boundaries. These sites are no longer recorded in Argyll and Bute, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire local authority boundaries, and are separately identifiable as Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park from 2011. Prior to 2011 these sites were classified within the relevant local authority boundary.

5. Previous SVDLS bulletins have used different base years for percentage change and so these percentages should not be compared with those in previous bulletins.

6. Highland has not updated their survey since 2015, their 2019 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.