Aberdeenshire councillors have welcomed £2.2million plans to build almost 200 council houses across the north-east.
The local authority’s policy and resources committee yesterday supported the proposals for 188 homes throughout several towns and villages.
It is hoped the plans will help ease demand for affordable homes in the region, where the housing waiting list stands at about 15,000 people.
The plans are for 69 homes in Stonehaven’s Ury Estate development, 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 will be built in Banff, 28 of them on Golden Knowles Road and 10 on the site of a derelict Bridge Street property.
The homes will be built in partnership with registered social landlords, including Grampian Housing Association.
Councillors welcomed the plans yesterday, with Inverurie and district member Hamish Vernal labelling them “absolutely brilliant”.
The local authority’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.”
Last week, council leader Jim Gifford said the number of properties proposed was still not enough for the area, adding: “The problem we have is we only have enough to build a few hundred and the number we need is in the thousands.”
The council aims to have the homes built by March 2017.