Aberdeenshire Council plans to push on with building more than 150 affordable homes, despite the building firm appointed to do the work collapsing.
Muirfield Contracts, based in Dundee, had been contracted to build the properties in Fraserburgh and Inverurie, but went into administration earlier this month.
The company had also been carrying out upgrades to council houses across the north-east, and were working on building 35 homes in the Barrasgate area of Fraserburgh when it collapsed.
Nearly 260 people lost their jobs, and fears were raised that the sites would be left to fall into disrepair.
But yesterday Allan Whyte, head of property services for the council, said the authority was progressing with plans to appoint new contractors.
“While the contracts between the council and Muirfield Contracts Ltd were live, the council was legally unable to undertake works ourselves or find alternative contractors,” he said.
“Now that we have formally terminated some of the contracts and indicated our intention to transfer the other contracts to the administrator we can begin the process of finding alternative companies to complete the developments and upgrades to homes.”
The authority has already written to tenants who have been affected by the work abruptly stopping on their homes.
A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council added: “The council has written to affected tenants to explain that all planned work at their homes has been legally stopped in the meantime and reassuring tenants that the council is working with the administrators and other contractors to ensure that any ongoing works are completed promptly.”
Muirfield had been awarded the contracts to create the homes in Fraserburgh and in Martin Brae, Inverurie, as part of a scheme to provide 169 affordable homes across the district.
With workers on the sites abandoning their posts, there had been fears from local councillors that youths and vandals would be able to access the developments and cause damage.
Aberdeenshire Council have now taken over the security of both sites from the administrators.