Statistical Bulletin ENV/2002/1: Scottish Vacant and Derelict Land Survey 2001
Reuse of vacant and derelict land
10.1 The tables and charts in this section relate only to sites (or parts thereof) which were brought back into actual use. Sites removed from the survey for definitional reasons or due to naturalisation are not included here: details of these sites are given in Annex Table B and Annex Table C.
Table 17: Derelict land reclaimed and vacant land brought back into use since the previous survey, by local authority area, 2001 1,2
Local Authority | Derelict Land | Vacant Land | Total Vacant and Derelict Land |
Area (ha) | % of Derelict Land (by Area) | No. of Sites | Area (ha) | % of Vacant Land (by Area) | No. of Sites | Area (ha) | % of Total Land (by Area) | No. of Sites |
Aberdeen City | - | - | - | 9 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 10 |
Aberdeenshire | 1 | * | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | * | 1 |
Angus | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
Argyll & Bute | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Clackmannanshire | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | * | 1 | 2 | * | 2 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 1 | * | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | * | 1 |
Dundee City 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 31 | 9 | 31 | 37 | 5 | 35 |
East Ayrshire | 73 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 80 | 10 | 13 |
East Dunbartonshire | * | * | 1 | - | - | - | * | - | 1 |
East Lothian | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | * | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
East Renfrewshire | - | - | - | 1 | * | 2 | 1 | * | 2 |
Edinburgh, City of | - | - | - | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
Eilean Siar | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Falkirk 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 19 |
Fife | 23 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 7 | 14 | 45 | 6 | 21 |
Glasgow City | 59 | 13 | 37 | 72 | 21 | 82 | 131 | 17 | 119 |
Inverclyde | 6 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 16 |
Midlothian | 3 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 11 |
North Ayrshire | - | - | - | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
North Lanarkshire | 51 | 11 | 33 | 57 | 17 | 36 | 108 | 14 | 69 |
Orkney Islands | - | - | - | 4 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
Perth and Kinross | 15 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 32 | 4 | 9 |
Renfrewshire | 5 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 6 | 21 | 24 | 3 | 29 |
Scottish Borders 3 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 2 | 21 |
Shetland Islands | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
South Ayrshire | 7 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | 7 | 1 | 6 |
South Lanarkshire | 21 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 9 | 21 | 53 | 7 | 27 |
Stirling | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 7 |
West Dunbartonshire | 4 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 16 |
West Lothian 3 | 151 | 34 | 11 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 168 | 21 | 16 |
Scotland | 449 | 100 | 167 | 343 | 100 | 310 | 792 | 100 | 477 |
1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 The figures for Moray and Highland are not included as they did not participate in the 2001 survey
3 The figures for Dundee City, Falkirk, Scottish Borders and West Lothian are sites brought back into use between 1999 and 2001
as they did not participate in the 2000 survey
10.2 Table 17 shows that a total of 792 hectares (477 sites) were reclaimed or brought back into use since the previous survey, excluding those sites removed for definitional reasons or due to naturalisation. As with Table 16, this refers to land brought back into use since 2000, except where a local authority did not complete the 2000 survey, in which case the figures refer to sites brought back into use since 1999. 449 hectares of the land brought back into use was derelict land that was reclaimed, of which 34 per cent was in West Lothian (151 hectares), 16 per cent was in East Ayrshire (73 hectares), and 13 per cent was in Glasgow City (59 hectares). Of the 343 hectares of vacant land which was brought back into use, 21 per cent (72 hectares) was in Glasgow City, and 17 per cent (57 hectares) was in North Lanarkshire.
10.3 The new use of sites, or parts of sites, that were reclaimed or brought back into use (excluding sites removed for definitional reasons) is shown in Table 18.
Table 18: Reclaimed derelict land and vacant land brought back into use since the previous survey, by new use, 2001 1-3
New Use | Derelict Land | Vacant Land | Total Vacant and Derelict Land |
Area (ha) | % of Derelict Land (by Area) | No. of Sites | Area (ha) | % of Vacant Land (by Area) | No. of Sites | Area (ha) | % of Total Land (by Area) | No. of Sites |
Agriculture | 114 | 25 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 121 | 15 | 12 |
Business Class | 2 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 3 | 11 |
Community & Health | 2 | * | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 8 |
Education | 1 | * | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
Forestry/Woodland | 1 | * | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | * | 2 |
Manufacturing | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 24 | 3 | 16 |
Mineral Activity | 129 | 29 | 15 | - | - | - | 129 | 16 | 15 |
Nature Conservation | - | - | - | 10 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
Offices | - | - | - | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
Other General Industry | 21 | 5 | 15 | 32 | 9 | 29 | 54 | 7 | 44 |
Passive Open Space | 10 | 2 | 4 | 25 | 7 | 19 | 35 | 4 | 23 |
Recreation & Leisure | 16 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 25 | 3 | 17 |
Residential | 105 | 23 | 78 | 148 | 43 | 158 | 253 | 32 | 236 |
Retailing | 19 | 4 | 11 | 24 | 7 | 14 | 43 | 5 | 25 |
Storage | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 11 |
Transport | 1 | * | 3 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
Utility Services | - | - | - | 1 | * | 3 | 1 | * | 3 |
Wholesale Distribution | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 3 | 9 |
Vacant Pending New Use | 1 | * | 1 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 5 |
Other | 1 | * | 2 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 14 |
Unknown 4 | - | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 2 |
Total | 449 | 100 | 167 | 343 | 100 | 310 | 792 | 100 | 477 |
1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 The figures for Moray and Highland are not included as they did not participate in the 2001 survey
3 The figures for Dundee City, Falkirk, Scottish Borders and West Lothian are sites brought back into use between 1999 and 2001 as they did not participate in the 2000 survey
4 Unknown values are excluded from the calculation of percentages
10.4 Chart 7 shows the distribution of new uses for vacant and derelict land brought back into use since the previous survey. The most common new use for derelict land was for mineral activity, with 29 per cent (129 hectares) of the land area being reclaimed for this purpose. The second most common use for derelict land was for agriculture, for which 25 per cent (114 hectares) was used, followed by residential development, for which 23 per cent (105 hectares) was used. The most common new use for vacant land was for residential development, with 43 per cent (148 hectares) being used.
Chart 7: New uses for vacant and derelict land, 2001

10.4 The average size of reclaimed derelict sites was 2.7 hectares (Table 18). Sites reclaimed for mineral activity were an average of 8.6 hectares in size, compared with 14.3 hectares for agriculture and 1.3 hectares for residential development.
10.5 The average size of vacant sites brought back into use was 1.1 hectares. Sites used for residential purposes were an average of 0.9 hectares in size, and those used for other general industry were 1.8 hectares in size.
10.6 Table 19 shows the distribution of site size classes for those sites brought back into use. The distribution is similar to that for extant sites (i.e. those which remain vacant or derelict). This implies that the 'demand' for vacant or derelict sites closely matches the 'supply', in terms of the size of available sites.
Table 19: Distribution of size of sites brought back into use and extant sites, 2001 1-3
Type | Size of Site |
No. of Sites <= 1 ha | % of Sites | No. of Sites 1-5 ha | % of Sites | No. of Sites 5-10 ha | % of Sites | No. of Sites 10-20 ha | % of Sites | No. of Sites >= 20 ha | % of Sites | Total No.of Sites | % of Sites |
Derelict |
Extant | 1,086 | 55 | 616 | 31 | 154 | 8 | 76 | 4 | 52 | 3 | 1,984 | 100 |
New Use | 100 | 60 | 49 | 29 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 167 | 100 |
Vacant |
Extant | 1,773 | 66 | 783 | 29 | 88 | 3 | 29 | 1 | 13 | - | 2,686 | 100 |
New Use | 229 | 74 | 70 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 1 | * | - | - | 310 | 100 |
Total |
Extant | 2,859 | 61 | 1,399 | 30 | 242 | 5 | 105 | 2 | 65 | 1 | 4,670 | 100 |
New Use | 329 | 69 | 119 | 25 | 20 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 477 | 100 |
1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 The figures for Moray and Highland are not included as they did not participate in the 2001 survey
3 The figures for Dundee City, Falkirk, Scottish Borders and West Lothian are sites brought back into use between 1999 and 2001
as they did not participate in the 2000 survey
10.7 Table 20 shows the previous use and new use of sites brought back into use since the previous survey. The new use of sites is not the same as the previous use, in the majority of cases. However, of the 67 hectares of vacant and derelict land where the previous use was residential, 54 hectares were brought back into use for residential development (81 per cent). Of land brought back into use for mineral activities, 128 of the 129 hectares had previously been used for mineral activities.
Table 20: Reclaimed derelict land and vacant land brought back into use since the previous survey: previous use against new use, 2001 1-3
Previous Use (hectares) | New Use (hectares) |
Forestry/ Open Space/ Nature Conservation | Agriculture | Mineral Activity | Defence | Recreation & Leisure | Community & Health/ Education | Residential | Retail | Offices/ Business Class | Manufacturing/ Other General Industry | Storage/ Wholesale Distribution | Transport | Utility Services | Vacant Pending New User/ Unknown | Other/ Unknown | Total |
Forestry/Open Space/Nature Conservation | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 7 | * | 8 | 1 | - | - | - | - | * | 18 |
Agriculture | 16 | 4 | - | - | * | * | 27 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 85 |
Mineral Activity | 7 | 87 | 128 | - | 6 | - | 25 | - | - | 3 | 8 | - | - | - | - | 264 |
Defence | - | 11 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | * | 1 | - | - | 1 | 15 |
Recreation & Leisure | * | - | - | - | 6 | 5 | 8 | 1 | - | * | - | - | - | - | - | 21 |
Community & Health/Education | * | 5 | 1 | - | * | 4 | 22 | 3 | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | 40 |
Residential | 3 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 54 | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 7 | 1 | 67 |
Retail | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | * | - | * | - | - | 1 | 3 |
Offices/Business Class | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
Manufacturing/ Other General Industry | 5 | - | - | - | 2 | 2 | 59 | 15 | 8 | 25 | 5 | 1 | - | 1 | * | 123 |
Storage/ Wholesale Distribution | - | * | - | - | * | - | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | * | - | * | - | 2 | 22 |
Transport | 9 | * | - | - | 2 | 1 | 4 | * | - | 5 | * | 1 | - | - | - | 22 |
Utility Services | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | * | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
Vacant Pending New Use | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Other/Unknown | 4 | 14 | - | - | 8 | 1 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 35 | * | 1 | - | - | 2 | 107 |
Total | 45 | 121 | 129 | - | 25 | 13 | 253 | 43 | 33 | 78 | 29 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 792 |
1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 The figures for Moray and Highland are not included as they did not participate in the 2001 survey
3 The figures for Dundee City, Falkirk, Scottish Borders and West Lothian are sites brought back into use between 1999 and 2001 as they did not participate in the 2000 survey
10.8 Table 21 shows the preferred and actual new use of sites brought back into use since the last survey. Overall, for 369 hectares (47 per cent) of the 792 hectares of land brought back into productive use, the class of primary preferred new use was the same as the actual new use to which the land was put.
Table 21: Reclaimed derelict land and vacant land brought back into use since the previous survey: preferred use against actual use, 2001 1-3
Preferred New Use (hectares) | Actual New Use (hectares) |
Forestry/ Open Space/ Nature Conservation | Agriculture | Mineral Activity | Recreation & Leisure | Community & Health/ Education | Residential | Retail | Offices/ Business Class | Manufacturing/ Other General Industry | Storage/ Wholesale Distribution | Transport | Utility Services | Vacant Pending New Use | Other/ Unknown | Total |
Forestry/ Open Space/ Nature Conservation | 10 | 12 | 6 | 1 | - | 9 | 2 | - | 6 | * | * | - | 3 | 1 | 50 |
Agriculture | 10 | 78 | 114 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 207 |
Mineral Activity | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Recreation & Leisure | 6 | - | - | 10 | - | 8 | 3 | - | - | - | * | - | - | - | 26 |
Community & Health/Education | - | - | - | - | 5 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | * | 17 |
Residential | 12 | - | - | 8 | 6 | 189 | 2 | - | 3 | - | * | 1 | 6 | 1 | 228 |
Retail | - | - | - | - | - | * | 6 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | 9 |
Offices/ Business Class | 3 | - | - | 1 | - | 15 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | * | - | - | 2 | 33 |
Manufacturing/ Other General Industry | 4 | 11 | - | 3 | 1 | 13 | 22 | 15 | 63 | 20 | 3 | - | - | 2 | 157 |
Storage/ Wholesale Distribution | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 13 |
Transport | - | - | - | * | - | - | 7 | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 10 |
Utility Services | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Vacant Pending New Use | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Other/ Unknown | * | 20 | 9 | - | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | * | 42 |
Total | 45 | 121 | 129 | 25 | 13 | 253 | 43 | 33 | 78 | 29 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 792 |
1 Figures may not sum due to rounding
2 The figures for Moray and Highland are not included as they did not participate in the 2001 survey
3 The figures for Dundee City, Falkirk, Scottish Borders and West Lothian are sites brought back into use between 1999 and 2001
as they did not participate in the 2000 survey