Aberdeen City Council has admitted breaching housing laws by failing to provide hundreds of homeless people with roofs over their heads.
The local authority revealed 289 homeless people and families were not offered any temporary accommodation between April and September last year.
It outweighed the 260 people and families who were provided the legally required accommodation during the same period.
The admission led to claims the council’s homelessness policy was in a “mess”, coming in the week a judge cleared the way for the authority to take itself to court over the pending closure of its Crown Street hostel.
In a briefing note obtained by the Press and Journal, council homelessness manager Paul Hannan said: “Temporary accommodation was only provided for 260 households (including non-priority households) in the first six months of 2009-2010, with a larger proportion, 289, not being offered any temporary accommodation because of lack of capacity.
“This is clearly a breach of our duties under housing legislation.”
The shortage, which has emerged despite the number of temporary properties run by the council rising from 13 in 2006 to 133 last year, could be exacerbated further if housing officials lose their appeal over the closure of the Crown Street hostel.
They are trying to overturn last year’s licensing committee decision to refuse the council-run hostel a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence, taken amid allegations of antisocial behaviour.
The two council departments are now to fight each other in the courts, at taxpayers’ expense.
The same committee is soon expected to be asked to grant an HMO licence for the former Aberdon House care home at Tillydrone, which officials want to turn into a homeless hostel to address the shortfall, but there are similar objections from the community.
Housing charity Shelter Scotland called on the council to take immediate action.
The organisation’s service manager, Martin Wilkie-McFarlane, said: “Aberdeen City Council, like all local authorities, has a legal obligation to provide temporary accommodation to homeless households.
“Shelter Scotland hopes the council will act swiftly to find a solution to the chronic shortage of temporary accommodation in the city.
“In the longer term the council and the Scottish Government must look at tackling the need for more permanent homes.”
Opposition Labour group housing spokesman Jim Hunter said: “What is clear is that the SNP/Lib Dem administration are failing our homeless.
“It is incumbent upon them to take forward a clear strategy to sort out this mess rather than what they currently propose, which is to use Aberdon House as a stop-gap measure, something the people of Tillydrone are against.”
Councillor Aileen Malone, housing convener for the authority’s ruling administration, admitted there was a problem.
“We are very stretched with temporary accommodation,” she said.
“There’s more people coming through our homelessness section than ever before.
“It is concerning and with the threat of the closure of Crown Street hanging over us, it’s even more concerning.
“We have got to address this issue.”