Ards and North Down vacancy & dereliction study

Background

Ards and North Down Borough Council commissioned McGarry Consulting (in partnership with Queen’s University Belfast) to assess the level of commercial vacancy & dereliction within 3 towns and 15 villages in the Ards and North Down Borough. In addition to identifying and mapping out derelict and vacant commercial units, each town and village will have their own action plan. The action plan will set out the steps to tackle vacancy and dereliction and improve opportunity sites within each town and village. This piece of work followed a 2025 study into vacant & derelict commercial units within Bangor City and Newtownards town centres, which in part led to the recent launch of the Empty to Energised Pilot Grant Scheme. For more information, please see the FAQs section below.

Towns and Villages

Towns (3): Comber, Donaghadee, Holywood

Villages (15): Ballygowan, Ballyhalbert, Ballywalter, Carrowdore, Cloughey, Conlig, Greyabbey, Groomsport, Helen’s Bay and Crawfordsburn, Killinchy, Kircubbin, Lisbane & Lisbarnett, Millisle, Portavogie, Portaferry

STILL TIME TO GET INVOLVED:

You know your towns and villages best. Please tell us your thoughts and feedback, via the survey or email below:

1) Survey (5-10mins)

The survey has had over 200 responses (as at 05Mar26), and has been extended to 10pm on Saturday 14-Mar-2026 to allow for more responses. Massive thanks to all those who’ve contributed to date.

2) E-mail Submission

Email hello@vacancystudy.com with your comments or feedback (closes 10pm Saturday 14-Mar-2026)

THANKS
Thanks to all those who turned up at our public information sessions in Holywood (16Feb), Comber (17Feb) and Donaghadee (18Feb) and who met our team out about the villages on Saturday 21Feb. We learned a lot and we really appreciated your time, thoughts and suggestions.

DRAFT TOWN AND VILLAGE MAPS

Maps are limited to the existing town centre and village boundaries. These maps are in draft format and not finalised. They are based on ground level visual assessments supported by online research. We welcome any feedback, and suggested amendments or corrections. All 18* towns and villages draft commercial dereliction and vacancy maps are available via one PDF here:

*Crawfordsburn and Helen’s Bay have one map each, but are collectively counted as one village for the purposes of this study

FAQs

A) How do these relate to the Village Plans and Town Masterplans?

The village plans (2025/26) are much broader than dereliction and vacancy. However, we will try and tie in with their key themes and recommendations. The Town Masterplans Reviews (2023) indicated a desire to sustain and regenerate the high street, and mapping out the dereliction and vacancy is a key aspect of that. Overall, our report will be the first to map out dereliction and vacancy within the villages and to provide a borough wide overview.

B) What is commercial dereliction and vacancy?

Vacancy is normally categorised is domestic and non-domestic. Non-domestic includes churches, community properties and club premises. However, commercial units focuses solely on commercial (business) units. A charity shop within a commercial unit is considered a commercial property.

Vacant properties are empty, unused and usually securely locked. Derelict properties are neglected, typically uninhabitable, and in severe disrepair. Often derelict properties have been unused for a long-time, and require a higher level of work (potentially structural works) to return to regular use.

C) Are the Bangor and Newtownards dereliction and vacancy studies publicly available?

Yes, they are both available via the following link: https://www.ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk/article/2062/Tackling-Vacancy-and-Dereliction

D) How did we determine whether a unit was derelict or vacant?

We worked closely with Queen’s University Belfast’s Planning School, and together devised a methodology. Together, we then visited each town and village in December 2025 and identified potential derelict or vacant commercial properties. A photo and mini-profile was created for each property. Initial findings were reviewed and quality assured in January 2026. These draft maps are now online for public feedback and further quality assurance (although there may be minor updates due to the passage of time, and/or informed local knowledge).

E) When will the public feedback end?

Our email and survey (both details above) will close on 10pm on Saturday 14th March 2026

F) Can we help other towns and villages?

The above towns and villages were identified by Ards & North Down Borough Council based on their Local Development Plan. We are happy to discuss how we could conduct similar dereliction and vacancy mapping exercises in other areas. We also have considerable regeneration experience (e.g. masterplans, feasibility studies, business cases, funding applications and evaluations) and an extensive partner network to call on, including QUB who have vast experience of their own. Contact hello@vacancystudy.com for more information, and/or use our contact page.