Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2019

12. Derelict and Urban Vacant Land: New, Reclaimed and Naturalised Sites

12.1 There were 41 hectares (42 sites) of newly identified derelict land since the previous survey. Over 40% of the total area (17 hectares across 10 sites) was in South Ayrshire. There were 126 hectares (60 sites) of newly identified urban vacant land since the previous survey. The largest area was in Angus, 59 hectares across 8 sites. These figures relate only to new sites first identified as vacant or derelict in 2019. They do not include sites listed in the previous survey which changed in size or changed from derelict to vacant or vice versa (Table 18).

12.2 A total of 311 hectares (250 sites) were reclaimed or brought back into use since the previous survey, excluding those sites removed for definitional reasons or due to naturalisation. 198 hectares (120 sites) was previously derelict and 113 hectares (130 sites) had been recorded as urban vacant land (Table 19).

12.3 Reclaimed sites relate only to sites (or parts of sites) which were brought back into use. Sites removed due to naturalisation or for definitional reasons are not included. In 2019 22 sites (32 hectares) of formerly derelict and urban vacant land were removed due to naturalisation (Table 21). In addition, 22 sites (38 hectares) were removed for definitional reasons - further details can be found in Annex C.

12.4 The most common new use for previously derelict land was for residential development, with 53% of sites (64 of 120) and 37% of the total area (73 of 198 hectares) reclaimed for this purpose (Table 20).

12.5 For urban vacant land the most common new use was also residential development with 49% of sites (64 of 130) and 57% of the total area brought back into use (65 of 113 hectares) (Table 20).

12.6 In 2019 the source of funding was known for 177 hectares of land brought back into use and 37 hectares were listed as having no funding or funding not being applicable. The source of funding was unknown for the remaining 98 hectares brought back into use.

12.7 The largest area brought back into use with known sources of funding involved private sector funding (102 of 177 hectares, 58%). Public sector funding accounted for 42 hectares (24%) and mixed public and private funding was used for 33 hectares (19%). North Lanarkshire (22 hectares) and South Lanarkshire (17 hectares) had the greatest areas brought back into use with only private funding, Glasgow City (12 hectares) and North Ayrshire (10 hectares) reported the largest areas brought back into use with only public funding (Table 22).

12.8 For land receiving public or mixed public/private funding the largest area of new use was for residential development (46 hectares). For solely privately funded land the largest area of new use was also for residential development (55 hectares).

Table 18 - New sites identified since the previous survey by Planning Authority ^1,2

Local Authority	Derelict Land		Urban Vacant Land6		Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land6
	Area (ha)	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	No. of Sites
Aberdeen City	-	-	15	7	15	7
Aberdeenshire	-	-	1	2	1	2
Angus	1	1	59	8	59	9
Argyll and Bute3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Clackmannanshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dumfries and Galloway5	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dundee City	*	1	15	11	15	12
East Ayrshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Lothian	*	2	-	-	*	2
East Renfrewshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
City of Edinburgh	-	-	-	-	-	-
Falkirk	*	2	-	-	*	2
Fife	-	-	-	-	-	-
Glasgow City	2	3	5	4	6	7
Highland4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Inverclyde	-	-	*	1	*	1
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	1	2	7	3	9	5
Moray	-	-	-	-	-	-
Na h-Eileanan Siar	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	-	-	*	1	*	1
North Lanarkshire	9	9	13	12	22	21
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross3	2	5	-	-	2	5
Renfrewshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scottish Borders	*	1	-	-	*	1
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	17	10	5	7	22	17
South Lanarkshire	8	4	5	4	13	8
Stirling3	1	2	-	-	1	2
West Dunbartonshire3	-	-	-	-	-	-
West Lothian	-	-	-	-	-	-
Scotland	41	42	126	60	167	102

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Sites identified since the previous survey but recorded as initially falling out of use prior to 2017 are not included in the above table.

3. 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.

4. Highland did not complete a survey in 2019 therefore there is no information on new sites.

5. Dumfries and Galloway did not complete a full survey in 2019 and did not add new sites or identify any reuse.

6. 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 19 - Derelict Land reclaimed and Urban Vacant Land brought back into use 1,4

Local Authority	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land7			Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land7
	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land (by Area)	No. of Sites5	Area (ha)	% of Urban Vacant Land (by Area)	No. of Sites5	Area (ha)	% of Total Land (by Area)	No. of Sites5
Aberdeen City	-	-	-	5	5	4	5	2	4
Aberdeenshire	1	1	2	3	3	5	4	1	7
Angus	*	*	1	4	3	2	4	1	3
Argyll and Bute2	-	-	-	2	2	3	2	1	3
Clackmannanshire	5	2	1	-	-	-	5	2	1
Dumfries and Galloway6							-	-	-
Dundee City	3	1	1	4	4	7	7	2	8
East Ayrshire	*	*	1	9	8	5	9	3	6
East Dunbartonshire	-	-	-	1	1	1	1	*	1
East Lothian	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Renfrewshire	*	*	1	2	1	2	2	1	3
City of Edinburgh	1	1	3	13	11	15	14	4	18
Falkirk	4	2	4	2	1	4	6	2	8
Fife	10	5	7	3	3	5	13	4	12
Glasgow City	24	12	26	23	21	23	47	15	49
Highland3							-	-	-
Inverclyde	1	1	2	3	2	7	4	1	9
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	8	4	2	-	-	-	8	3	2
Moray	*	*	1	*	*	1	*	*	2
Na h-Eileanan Siar	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	86	43	10	6	6	10	92	30	20
North Lanarkshire	25	13	36	2	1	3	27	9	39
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross2	2	1	1	1	1	1	3	1	2
Renfrewshire	11	6	6	13	12	10	24	8	16
Scottish Borders	*	*	1	1	1	1	2	1	2
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	3	1	5	-	-	-	3	1	5
South Lanarkshire	11	6	6	13	12	15	25	8	21
Stirling2	-	-	-	1	1	3	1	*	3
West Dunbartonshire2	1	1	2	1	*	1	2	1	3
West Lothian	*	*	1	2	2	2	2	1	3
Scotland	198	100	120	113	100	130	311	100	250

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. 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.

3. Highland did not complete a survey in 2019 and therefore there is no information on reclaimed or reused sites.

4. Excludes naturalised sites and sites that have been removed as they no longer meet the required definitions for derelict or urban vacant land.

5. The number of sites refers to the number of packages of land classed as reused and may not directly correspond a full site that was previously listed as vacant or derelict. For example if a previously vacant site was partly reused for residential and partly for passive open space while the remainder was still classed as vacant it would be listed as 2 separate reused sites in the table and also still remain on the 2018 vacant land register.

6. Dumfries and Galloway did not complete a full survey in 2019 and therefore there is no information for reclaimed or reused sites.

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 20 - Reclaimed Derelict Land and Urban Vacant land - by new use ^1,5

New Use	Derelict Land			Urban Vacant Land7			Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land7
	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites6	Area (ha)	% of Urban Vacant Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites6	Area (ha)	% of Total Land (by Area)4	No. of Sites6
Agriculture	13	6	3	-	-	-	13	4	3
Business Class	*	*	2	3	3	1	3	1	3
Community & Health	2	1	3	1	1	2	2	1	5
Defence	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Education	*	*	1	1	1	1	2	1	2
Green/Environmental	*	*	1	4	4	5	4	1	6
Manufacturing	1	1	2	2	2	3	4	1	5
Mineral Activity	7	4	1	-	-	-	7	2	1
Offices	-	-	-	2	2	3	2	1	3
Other General Industry2	73	37	11	7	6	11	80	26	22
Passive Open Space	4	2	5	5	5	13	9	3	18
Recreation & Leisure3	4	2	1	7	6	2	10	3	3
Residential	73	37	64	65	57	64	138	44	128
Retailing	5	3	6	3	2	6	8	2	12
Storage	4	2	6	4	3	8	8	2	14
Transport	3	1	6	4	3	4	6	2	10
Utility Services	*	*	1	*	*	1	1	*	2
Wholesale Distribution	1	1	2	-	-	-	1	*	2
Woodland (Community-Based)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Woodland (Non-Community-Based)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Other	7	3	5	4	4	5	11	4	10
Unknown4	-	-	-	*	*	1	*	*	1
Total	198	100	120	113	100	130	311	100	250

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. Excludes naturalised sites and sites that have been removed as they no longer meet the required definitions for derelict or urban vacant land.

6. The number of sites refers to packages of land classed as reused and may not directly correspond to a site previously listed as vacant or derelict. For example if a previously vacant site was partly reused for residential and partly for passive open space while the remainder was still classed as vacant it would be listed as 2 separate reused sites in the table and also still remain on the vacant and derelict land register.

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 21 - Sites classed as naturalised ¹

Local Authority	Derelict Land		Urban Vacant Land2		Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land2
	Area (ha)	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	No. of Sites	Area (ha)	No. of Sites
Angus	6	4	-	-	6	4
Dundee City	1	1	*	1	1	2
Falkirk	12	4	*	1	13	5
Fife	1	1	6	5	7	6
Glasgow City	-	-	*	2	*	2
North Ayrshire	1	1	-	-	1	1
South Lanarkshire	1	1	-	-	1	1
West Dunbartonshire	3	1	-	-	3	1
All	25	13	7	9	32	22

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. 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 22 - Sources of funding used for Derelict Land reclaimed and Urban Vacant Land brought back into use since the previous survey, by local authority area ^1,5,7

Local Authority	Public sector funding (ha)	Private sector funding (ha)	Mixed funding2 (ha)	Unknown (ha)	None / not applicable (ha)	Total (ha)
Aberdeen City	5	1	-	-	-	5
Aberdeenshire	-	2	-	2	-	4
Angus	-	-	-	-	4	4
Argyll and Bute3	-	-	-	2	-	2
Clackmannanshire	-	5	-	-	-	5
Dumfries and Galloway6
Dundee City	*	7	*	-	-	7
East Ayrshire	1	1	6	1	-	9
East Dunbartonshire	-	1	-	-	-	1
East Lothian	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Renfrewshire	1	1	-	-	-	2
City of Edinburgh	-	6	7	-	-	14
Falkirk	-	5	-	-	1	6
Fife	-	-	-	12	1	13
Glasgow City	12	11	19	5	1	47
Highland4
Inverclyde	-	1	-	-	3	4
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Midlothian	-	8	-	-	-	8
Moray	-	*	-	-	-	*
Na h-Eileanan Siar	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Ayrshire	10	3	-	77	3	92
North Lanarkshire	5	22	-	-	-	27
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-
Perth and Kinross3	-	3	-	-	-	3
Renfrewshire	-	-	-	-	24	24
Scottish Borders	*	1	-	-	-	2
Shetland Islands	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Ayrshire	-	3	-	-	-	3
South Lanarkshire	7	17	-	-	-	25
Stirling3	-	1	-	-	-	1
West Dunbartonshire3	1	1	*	-	-	2
West Lothian	-	2	-	-	-	2
Scotland	42	102	33	98	37	311

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Mixed public and private sector funding or partnership.

3. 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.

4. Highland did not complete a survey in 2019 and therefore there is no information for sources of funding.

5. Excludes naturalised sites and sites that have been removed as they no longer meet the required definitions for derelict or urban vacant land.

6 Dumfries and Galloway did not complete a full survey in 2019 and therefore there is no information for reclaimed or reused sites.

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.

12.9 The amount of previously urban vacant land reclaimed in 2019 is the lowest amount over the last seven years. The amount reclaimed has varied over the period 2013 to 2019 and there is no evident trend of an annual reduction in land being reused. The area of derelict land reclaimed in 2019 is higher than in the previous year but as for urban vacant land the amount reclaimed has varied over the last seven years. As can be seen from the notably higher area reclaimed in 2017, a large single site coming back into use can have a significant impact on the area of reclaimed land.

12.10 Excluding the single 506 hectare site that was reclaimed in 2017 over the last seven years there has been an average of 199 hectares reclaimed per year. In 2019 198 hectares were reclaimed, just slightly less than the average. Between 2013 and 2019 an average of 147 hectares of urban vacant land was reused per year. In 2019 113 hectares of urban vacant land were reclaimed.

Table 23 - Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land reclaimed, 2013-2019 ^1,2,3,4

Site Type	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Derelict Land (ha)	239	207	205	174	688	185	198
Total Sites5	133	123	119	125	129	135	122
Urban Vacant Land (ha)	164	122	150	146	169	165	113
Total Sites5,6	188	140	194	154	188	186	131
Total Area Reclaimed (Derelict & Urban Vacant)	404	329	356	320	857	350	311
Total Sites5,6	321	263	313	279	317	321	253

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. See Annex D 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 2000-2012.

4. Excludes naturalised sites and sites that have been removed as they no longer meet the required definitions for derelict or urban vacant land.

5. The number of sites refers to the number of packages of land classed as reused and may not directly correspond a full site that was previously listed as vacant or derelict. For example if a previously vacant or derelict site was partly reused for residential and partly for passive open space while the remainder was still classed as vacant it would be listed as 2 separate reused sites in the table and also still remain on the vacant and derelict land register.

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

12.11 A total of 406 hectares of formerly derelict and urban vacant land has been removed from the survey with the Scottish Government’s Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF) making either a partial or full contribution (Table 24).

12.12 Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire have been in receipt of this fund since it started in 2005/06, South Lanarkshire since 2006/07. Dundee City, which had been in receipt of the funds from 2005/6 was replaced by Fife in 2015/16. Highland joined in 2008/09 but was replaced by North Ayrshire in 2016/17.

12.13 Glasgow City has the largest area of re-used land where VDLF funding was used, 132 hectares (73 sites). Any involvement the VDLF has had with existing sites in the 2019 survey (i.e. those not yet removed from the survey) is not recorded in Table 24, but will appear when the sites are bought back into use in the future.

Table 24 - Reclaimed/Re-used Sites where the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund ( VDLF) was a funding source ^1,2,3

Local Authorities receiving Vacant and Derelict Land Funds	Derelict Land		Urban Vacant Land5		Total Derelict and Urban Vacant Land5
	Area (ha)	No. of Sites4	Area (ha)	No. of Sites4	Area (ha)	No. of Sites4
Dundee City	36	9	87	89	123	98
Fife	-	-	1	1	1	1
Glasgow City	60	49	73	24	132	73
Highland	7	15	19	17	26	32
North Ayrshire	3	2	-	-	3	2
North Lanarkshire	70	32	4	8	74	40
South Lanarkshire	42	11	5	13	47	24
TOTAL	217	118	188	152	406	270

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Includes partial or full contributions including money used to prepare the land for development, e.g. decontamination.

3. Any involvement the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund has had with existing sites in the 2017 Vacant and Derelict Land Survey (those not yet removed from the survey) is not recorded in the above table.

4. The number of sites refers to the number of packages of land classed as reused and may not directly correspond a full site that was previously listed as vacant or derelict. For example if a previously vacant or derelict site was partly reused for residential and partly for passive open space while the remainder was still classed as vacant it would be listed as 2 separate reused sites in the table and also still remain on the vacant and derelict land register.

5. Figures do not include urban vacant sites in settlements with a population of less than 2,000.

12.14 Across the seven councils in the VDLF for 2005-2019, in 2019 an estimated 191,200 properties (both private households and communal establishments^[*]) were within 500 metres of land reclaimed with the involvement of the VDLF (either solely or in combination with other funds) (Table 25). Of those properties, 53% (101,900) were within 500 metres of 1 site reclaimed with the involvement of the VDLF, 21% (40,600) were within 500 metres of 2 reclaimed sites, and the remaining properties were within 500 metres of at least 3 reclaimed sites. To date, the largest number of properties in close proximity to land reclaimed using the VDLF is located within Glasgow City (75,600 properties).

Table 25 - Estimate of the number of properties within 500 metres of at least 1 site reclaimed using the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF) ^1,2,3,7,8,9

Local Authority	Properties within 500m of land reclaimed using VDLF
	1 Site Only	2 Sites Only	3 Sites +	Total
Dundee City3	12,800	9,700	23,400	45,900
Fife	800	-	-	800
Glasgow City4,6	37,700	21,100	16,800	75,600
Highland	15,400	2,400	200	18,000
North Ayrshire	1,200	-	-	1,200
North Lanarkshire	21,500	4,500	3,600	29,600
South Lanarkshire5	12,500	2,900	4,700	20,100
Total	101,900	40,600	48,700	191,200

1. Properties based on National Records of Scotland Address Register data 2018. See Annex Note A.8 for further information.

2. Any involvement the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund has had with existing sites in the 2019 Vacant and Derelict Land Survey (those not yet removed from the survey) is not recorded in the table above.

3. An estimated further 300 properties within Angus and Perth and Kinross are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within Dundee City boundaries.

4. An estimated further 100 properties within Renfrewshire are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within Glasgow City boundaries.

5. An estimated 1800 properties are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within Glasgow City boundaries, 600 of these are also within 500m of a site in South Lanarkshire.

6. An estimated 4,900 properties are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within South Lanarkshire boundaries. 3,600 of these are also within 500m of a site in Glasgow City.

7. Properties that are estimated to have been built on the reclaimed site have been removed from this analysis.

8. The number of sites refers to the number of packages of land classed as reused and may not directly correspond a full site that was previously listed as vacant or derelict. For example if a previously vacant or derelict site was partly reused for residential and partly for passive open space while the remainder was still classed as vacant it would be listed as 2 separate reused sites in the table and also still remain on the vacant and derelict land register.

9. Figures do not include urban vacant sites in settlements with a population of less than 2,000.

12.15 Overall, half of the 191,200 properties within 500 metres of land reclaimed using the VDLF were situated within Scotland's 15% most deprived data zones, 95,100 properties (Table 26). The percentage of properties in close proximity to land reclaimed using the VDLF that were situated within the 15% most deprived data zones varied between councils. Glasgow City had the highest percentage, 66%, Highland had the lowest, 22%.

Table 26 - Estimate of the number of properties within 500 metres of at least 1 site reclaimed using the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund ( VDLF), split by deprivation ^1,2,3,8

Local Authority	Properties within 500m of land reclaimed using VDLF -
	Within 15% Most Deprived Datazones	Outwith 15% most Deprived Datazones	Total	Percent of Properties near remediated land within 15% most deprived datazones
Dundee City4	19,700	26,200	45,900	43%
Fife	200	600	800	25%
Glasgow City5,7	50,200	25,400	75,600	66%
Highland	4,000	14,000	18,000	22%
North Ayrshire	600	600	1,200	50%
North Lanarkshire	11,700	17,900	29,600	40%
South Lanarkshire6	8,700	11,400	20,100	43%
Total	95,100	96,100	191,200	50%

1. Properties based on National Records of Scotland Address Register data 2018. See Annex Note A.8 for further information.

2. Any involvement the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund has had with existing sites in the 2019 Vacant and Derelict Land Survey (those not yet removed from the survey) is not recorded in the table above.

3. An estimated further 300 properties within Angus and Perth and Kinross are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within Dundee City boundaries.

4. An estimated further 100 properties within Renfrewshire are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within Glasgow City boundaries.

5. An estimated 1800 properties are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within Glasgow City boundaries, 600 of these are also within 500m of a site in South Lanarkshire.

6. An estimated 4,900 properties are located within 500 metres of a reclaimed derelict site within South Lanarkshire boundaries. 3,600 of these are also within 500m of a site in Glasgow City.

7. Properties that are estimated to have been built on the reclaimed site have been removed from this analysis.

8. Figures do not include urban vacant sites in settlements with a population of less than 2,000.