Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2019

7. Derelict Land: Levels, Location and Characteristics

7.1 This section focuses exclusively on derelict land - its levels over the past seven years and its location within Scotland. Derelict land is land which has been so damaged by development, that it is unsuitable for development for beneficial use without rehabilitation. The land must currently not be used for the purpose for which it is held or a use acceptable in the local plan. Land also qualifies as derelict if it has an un-remedied previous use which could constrain future development.

7.2 The total amount of derelict land has shown a net increase of 99 hectares (1%), from 8,767 hectares in 2013 to 8,866 hectares in 2019 (Table 6). This increase has been notably influenced by the addition of over 2,200 hectares of former surface coal mines in 2014.

7.3 Excluding derelict mineral sites, the total amount of derelict land in Scotland has shown a net decrease of 15% (1,016 hectares) since 2013 (from 6,832 hectares in 2013 to 5,816 hectares in 2019).

7.4 The change in the recorded amount of derelict land from 2013 to 2019 varies by authority. Some councils have seen large decreases - Renfrewshire had a percentage decrease of 81%. Others have seen large increases in levels of derelict land - East Ayrshire has more than five times the amount of derelict land in 2019 compared to 2013. This large increase is due to the addition of 2,217 hectares of former surface coal mines in 2014 (see Section 5).

7.5 The large percentage changes for some authorities, for example Na h-Eileanan Siar, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire and Moray, are due the small base of recorded land in 2013.

7.6 The five councils recording the largest amount of derelict land in 2019 are East Ayrshire (1,736 ha), Highland (1,276 ha), North Lanarkshire (1,218 ha), North Ayrshire (1,011 ha) and Fife (600 ha). Together these councils account for two thirds (66%) of all derelict land recorded in 2019.

7.7 The largest derelict sites recorded in the 2019 survey include:

• Fearn and Fendom Airfields and the Port of Arderseir in Highland (386, 295 and 255 hectares)
• A former explosives factory in Ardeer, North Ayrshire (332 hectares)
• A former opencast coal site in Muirkirk, East Ayrshire (246 hectares)

7.8 The largest site recorded as derelict for the first time during this survey was at Turnberry Airfield in South Ayrshire (13 hectares).

Table 6 - Total Derelict Land by Planning Authority ^1,2,3

Local Authority	Total Derelict land Area (ha)							% Change 2013-20195
	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Aberdeen City	29	25	21	16	13	13	13	-56%
Aberdeenshire	35	34	34	38	45	43	42	22%
Angus	124	126	112	100	94	229	223	79%
Argyll and Bute4	9	8	37	37	37	38	38	345%
Clackmannanshire	11	15	12	54	48	46	41	260%
Dumfries and Galloway	483	482	455	457	301	301	294	-39%
Dundee City	14	18	16	16	14	17	14	-5%
East Ayrshire	285	2,493	2,480	2,386	2,324	1,736	1,736	510%
East Dunbartonshire	56	52	61	67	69	43	43	-24%
East Lothian	62	61	76	76	79	78	79	27%
East Renfrewshire	39	36	36	36	34	34	34	-13%
City of Edinburgh	112	111	96	96	91	88	87	-22%
Falkirk	89	101	108	163	210	208	194	119%
Fife	820	826	612	615	614	611	600	-27%
Glasgow City	644	638	641	640	621	580	530	-18%
Highland6	1,302	1,299	1,276	1,276	1,276	1,276	1,276	-2%
Inverclyde	26	26	28	82	81	83	59	125%
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park4	25	25	25	25	25	6	6	-75%
Midlothian	254	205	189	182	108	108	100	-61%
Moray	9	9	8	7	7	7	7	-21%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	1	1	1	1	1	*	*	-89%
North Ayrshire	1,125	1,137	1,129	1,127	1,147	1,098	1,011	-10%
North Lanarkshire	1,148	1,142	1,120	1,086	1,141	1,204	1,218	6%
Orkney Islands	39	39	39	39	39	32	32	-19%
Perth and Kinross4	41	31	32	27	21	22	24	-41%
Renfrewshire	784	761	748	708	173	160	149	-81%
Scottish Borders	54	49	49	49	46	45	46	-15%
Shetland Islands	7	5	5	5	6	6	6	-2%
South Ayrshire	70	70	75	81	81	96	110	56%
South Lanarkshire	356	345	340	296	306	296	291	-18%
Stirling4	123	123	122	108	108	108	110	-11%
West Dunbartonshire4	168	168	167	157	149	152	148	-12%
West Lothian6	421	417	346	346	346	304	304	-28%
Scotland	8,767	10,877	10,496	10,399	9,654	9,070	8,866	1%

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. 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.

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 last updated their survey in 2015 so 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.

7.9 Just over three quarters of all Scotland’s derelict sites are found within a settlement; the remaining quarter is within the countryside (Table 7). While the majority of derelict sites are located within settlements a larger area of derelict land is found outside of settlements with 5,686 hectares of derelict land, 64% of the total area, in the countryside.

7.10 North Lanarkshire has the largest number of settlement-based derelict sites with 313 recorded in 2019 and the largest amount of derelict land recorded within settlements in 2019 (830 hectares). This accounts for just over a quarter of all settlement-based derelict land.

7.11 North Lanarkshire also has the largest number of countryside-based derelict sites with 87 (388 hectares) recorded in 2019. However, the largest area of derelict land in the countryside is in East Ayrshire (1,680 hectares) which accounts for 30% of all countryside-based derelict land. This is due mainly to a small number of very large derelict former surface coal mines in East Ayrshire.

7.12 The average size of a derelict site in Scotland is 4.7 hectares. The average size of a countryside site is 12.7 hectares, with the average size of a settlement-based derelict site notably smaller at 2.2 hectares.

7.13 Across Scotland as a whole 0.1% of all land is derelict. Glasgow City has the largest amount of derelict land in relation to the size of its administrative area (Chart 1). The figures for all councils can be found in Annex Table 3.

Land areas were derived from the latest local authority boundaries produced by Ordnance Survey.

© Crown copyright and database right (2020). Ordnance Survey (OS Licence number 100024655).

Table 7 - Location and average size of Derelict Sites by Planning Authority ^1,2

Local Authority	In a Settlement					In the Countryside					All Derelict Land
	Area (ha)	% of LA's derelict land in settlements (by Area)	No of Sites	Average Site Size	% of Scottish derelict land in settlements (by Area)3	Area (ha)	% of LA's derelict land in the Countryside (by Area)	No of Sites	Average Site Size	% of Scottish derelict land in the Countryside (by Area)4	Area (ha)	No of Sites	Average Site Size
Aberdeen City	13	100	15	1	*	-	-	-	-	-	13	15	1
Aberdeenshire	29	68	27	1	1	13	32	2	7	*	42	29	1
Angus	16	7	9	2	1	206	93	11	19	4	223	20	11
Argyll and Bute5	9	23	8	1	*	29	77	3	10	1	38	11	3
Clackmannanshire	5	13	9	1	*	36	87	3	12	1	41	12	3
Dumfries and Galloway	73	25	36	2	2	221	75	8	28	4	294	44	7
Dundee City	14	100	17	1	*	-	-	-	-	-	14	17	1
East Ayrshire	56	3	35	2	2	1,680	97	44	38	30	1,736	79	22
East Dunbartonshire	15	34	3	5	*	28	66	7	4	*	43	10	4
East Lothian	22	29	11	2	1	56	71	19	3	1	79	30	3
East Renfrewshire	32	95	21	2	1	2	5	1	2	*	34	22	2
City of Edinburgh	86	98	22	4	3	2	2	1	2	*	87	23	4
Falkirk	148	76	33	4	5	46	24	13	4	1	194	46	4
Fife	211	35	106	2	7	389	65	54	7	7	600	160	4
Glasgow City	494	93	237	2	16	36	7	5	7	1	530	242	2
Highland6	174	14	75	2	5	1,102	86	28	39	19	1,276	103	12
Inverclyde	59	100	46	1	2	-	-	-	-	-	59	46	1
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park5	3	43	6	*	*	4	57	1	4	*	6	7	1
Midlothian	28	29	15	2	1	71	71	21	3	1	100	36	3
Moray	7	100	7	1	*	-	-	-	-	-	7	7	1
Na h-Eileanan Siar	*	100	1	*	*	-	-	-	-	-	*	1	*
North Ayrshire	318	31	80	4	10	693	69	29	24	12	1,011	109	9
North Lanarkshire	830	68	313	3	26	388	32	87	4	7	1,218	400	3
Orkney Islands	-	-	-	-	-	32	100	1	32	1	32	1	32
Perth and Kinross5	11	44	17	1	*	14	56	28	*	*	24	45	1
Renfrewshire	43	29	23	2	1	106	71	2	53	2	149	25	6
Scottish Borders	31	69	50	1	1	14	31	8	2	*	46	58	1
Shetland Islands	1	14	1	1	*	6	86	5	1	*	6	6	1
South Ayrshire	90	82	54	2	3	19	18	7	3	*	110	61	2
South Lanarkshire	140	48	85	2	4	151	52	23	7	3	291	108	3
Stirling5	7	6	6	1	*	103	94	8	13	2	110	14	8
West Dunbartonshire5	148	100	55	3	5	*	*	1	*	*	148	56	3
West Lothian6	67	22	15	4	2	237	78	28	8	4	304	43	7
Scotland	3,179	36	1,438	2	100	5,686	64	448	13	100	8,866	1,886	5

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

2. Settlements as defined by Local Authorities in their latest council approved local plans.

3. As a percentage of total derelict land within a settlement in Scotland.

4. As a percentage of total derelict land within the countryside in Scotland.

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 2019 figures have been carried over from 2015.

7.14 Where derelict characteristics are recorded the most common characteristic in terms of the number of sites is the remains of buildings, with 656 sites listed with this as a single characteristic. However, this only accounts for 10% of the total area of characterised derelict land. The largest area of characterised derelict land is listed as having a mixture of possible left over chemicals/substances and rubble, stone deposits and other material - 2,059 hectares (27% of total area) across 117 sites. A further 21% of the total area (1,582 hectares and 183 sites) is characterised by building remains and possible left over chemicals/substances. It should be noted that there is potential for overlap between these categories, so the results should be treated with some caution.

Table 8 - Derelict Land Characteristics ¹

Derelict Characteristics	Area (ha)	% of Derelict Land with known characteristics (by Area)2	No. of Sites
Building remains	777	10	656
Possible left over chemicals/substances	878	12	227
Abandoned physical material (stone deposits, rubble etc)	513	7	161
Building remains and possible left over chemicals/substances	1,582	21	183
Building remains and abandoned physical material (stone deposits, rubble etc)	440	6	140
Possible left over chemicals/substances and rubble, stone deposits and other material	2,059	27	117
Building remains, possible left over chemicals/substances and abandoned physical material (stone deposits, rubble etc)	1,345	18	75
Total Derelict Land with known characteristics	7,593	100	1,559
Unknown2	1,273		327
Total Derelict Land	8,866		1,886

1. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

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