Aberdeen City Council has launched ambitious plans to build thousands of new council homes in Aberdeen over the next six years.
Council leader Jenny Laing brought forward a motion to investigate the potential of creating at least 2,000 new homes by 2022 at yesterday’s communities, housing and infrastructure committee.
The demand for affordable council housing in the Granite City is far exceeding the current supply, and Mrs Laing said the prospective of thousands of new homes across the city would help to address the issue.
She said: “We’ve been committed as an administration to make sure that we meet the housing challenges we have got in the city.
“I think we’ve been very proactive over the past four and a half years.
“But where we’ve been held back is the actual building of council houses themselves.
“We’ve got 179 in total that we’re currently building at Smithfield and Manor Walk, and they will hopefully take people off our lists, but given that we’ve still go more than 6,500 people waiting we need to look at a way we can really create a significant change.
“We need to increase the number of council houses that are available because no matter what, there will always be people for whom the private sector is outwith their means.
Mrs Laing’s motion for a feasibility report into the planned 2,000 new homes received unanimous cross-party backing.
Stephen Flynn, leader of the council’s SNP group, said his party supported the motion and said more to be done to tackle Aberdeen’s housing crisis.
Mr Flynn said: “This administration has continually over-promised and under-delivered on housing in Aberdeen and for years we have consistently called for new council housing, so I am pleased with this step forward.
“A report on how we build 2,000 houses is not the same as delivering – far from it – so it is a welcome move but a report is far from a spade in the ground.
“For too long the administration has failed to take action on housing without any due care or consideration for the people of this city and hopefully, finally, we are seeing them realise the folly of their actions – but they still need to deliver.”
