Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has paused the Buildings at Risk Register (BARR) after a report found "insufficient evidence" to demonstrate that it has a significant impact in bringing buildings back into use.
The BARR was set up in 1990 in response to a concern at the growing number of listed buildings and buildings in Conservation Areas that were vacant and had fallen into a state of disrepair.
Considered the first primarily public-facing heritage at risk register, the BARR was first developed by the Scottish Civic Trust with funding from Historic Scotland.
Its purpose was set out as “…to put potential restorers in touch with owners who are not in a position to tackle the problems themselves, in the hope of encouraging fruitful dialogue which might result in a building being given a new lease of life.”
It is now maintained by HES and provides information on properties of architectural or historic interest throughout the country that are considered to be at risk.
READ MORE: Scotland's precious architectural heritage is at risk
As of January 2024, there were 2,219 buildings on the register.
HES commissioned research and evaluation agency Harlow Consulting to undertake a review of the BARR, focusing on assessing its impact in bringing buildings back in to use in order to make evidence-based recommendations for its long-term future.
The report found that BARR "is not sufficiently clear, engaging, attractive, [or] searchable to be an effective tool for restoring purchasers or for securing publicity for buildings at risk", concluding that there is "no clear evidence that the BARR is currently fulfilling any of its identified key purposes effectively".
As a result of the findings, HES said it has taken the decision to pause the BARR "in order to consider long-term options for its future".
Elizabeth McCrone, Director of Heritage at HES, said: "We commissioned this review of the BARR as we recognise the important role HES has to play in helping to bring buildings back in to use, and we want explore how we can do this in a way that has the most positive impact.
"We remain committed to proactively supporting the long-term sustainable reuse of buildings that are vacant, neglected, or at risk of demolition. Pausing the BARR will allow us to look at alternative ways we can do this more effectively.
“As we consider the future of the BARR, we will continue the conversation with key stakeholders to see if there are alternative solutions that harness the potential of historic buildings not currently in use and deliver benefit to communities across Scotland.”
The existing BARR website will remain accessible as a resource, however it will not be updated with new information, HES added.
In May, dozens of buildings in Glasgow city centre were added to the BARR, with sites on Sauchiehall Street and surrounding streets featuring heavily among the new additions.
The former BHS store and former Watt Brothers store on Sauchiehall Street were both added to the list alongside The Charles Cameron Memorial Fountain at Charing Cross.
Meanwhile, in June, The Herald revealed that the biggest collection of at-risk A-listed buildings in Scotland is secretly owned by a senior executive at a sanctioned Russian bank.
READ MORE: Going, going, gone? 11 great Glasgow buildings we could be about to lose
Aberdeen’s sprawling and Broadford Works - a textile mill first opened during the Napoleonic Wars - has been effectively abandoned - blighted by fires and vandalism - since it closed in 2004.
Property developers have talked of turning the entire historic complex in to housing - but the most recent plans - worth £120m - to create 900 homes and student flats have been dropped.
Officially the works are owned by a firm headquartered on the Channel Island of Guernsey called Ferness Investments Holdings Limited. However, corporate filings reveal that the beneficial owner of this offshore company is a man named Andrey Kosolapov, a very senior figure at Moscow banking giant Absolut.
US authorities officially sanctioned Absolut Bank late last year as part of sweeping restrictions on Russia’s financial services sector. The UK has not acted on the institution and Kosolapov is not subject to personal sanctions.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel