Plans have been tabled for almost 200 council houses in Aberdeenshire which could help to ease demand from tenants across the region.
Councillors will be asked to support the £2.2million proposals for 188 homes at a meeting of Aberdeenshire Council’s policy and resources committee next Thursday.
The move comes as the local authority’s housing waiting list stands at about 15,000 people.
Council leader Jim Gifford has warned the number of properties being proposed is still not enough.
The homes will be built in several towns and villages across the region in partnership with registered social landlords, including Grampian Housing Association.
The council’s director of communities, Ritchie Johnson, said: “There is high and evidenced housing requirement for affordable housing within Aberdeenshire.
“The proposed programme would help to meet housing need across Aberdeenshire through a variety of house types and tenures provided by strategic partners.
“Some developments will also play a key role in the physical, social and economic regeneration of town-centre sites in Peterhead, Banff and Huntly.”
If the plans are approved, 69 homes would be built in Stonehaven, 13 in Inverurie, 12 in Huntly, 10 in Westhill and 19 in Marykirk.
Further north, 15 one-bedroom homes are proposed for Peterhead’s Caley Buildings site, along with 12 one, two and three-bedroom properties at Turriff’s Errol Court.
Another 38 homes would be built in Banff – 28 of them on Golden Knowles Road and 10 on the site of a derelict Bridge Street property.
Mr Gifford said the 188 properties was far short of what was required.
“The problem we have is we only have enough to build a few hundred and the number we need is in the thousands. We haven’t got enough houses being built,” he said.
“We get no money at all (for housing), we have to dig for cash where it is available. We have managed to build a few hundred every year for the last few several years, but it is not enough.
“What we have been looking at for a while is for the government to give us more money. Cash is the problem.”
The homes in Inverurie, Westhill, Banff’s Golden Knowles Road and Stonehaven’s Ury Estate would be built as a result of developer obligations.
If approved, the council would aim to have them completed by March 2017.