An Aberdeen MSP has argued council chiefs should speed up plans for building new affordable housing in the city.
Kevin Stewart has called on the Labour-led administration to abandon efforts to find a development partner to deliver 2,000 homes.
He suggested that the authority should instead start its own house-building scheme.
A shortage of low-cost homes has been identified as a major hurdle in attracting public sector workers to the area.
Mr Stewart, Aberdeen Central MSP, was told in a letter from the local authority’s chief executive Angela Scott that a development deal is not likely to be struck until some point in 2015.
He said: “The council approved plans in October 2013 to deliver a ‘step change’ in affordable housing but we see now that there search for a development partner will not be complete until 2015 at the earliest.
“This is more of a step back than a step change.
“Not only does appointing a partner mean an unnecessary delay it also means that money that could be put into delivering more affordable housing will go to private profit instead.”
Mr Stewart said the council could make use of £4million of ring-fenced funding for affordable housing that has been left unused in council reserves for the past two years.
However, city finance convener Willie Young argued the SNP stance was “laughable”.
He said: “We have committed as an administration to building 2,000 affordable houses by 2017, but for £4million you would get about 50, that sums up the SNP.
“We have also asked our officers to look into the possibility of building council housing on top of that. We know that we need housing for key workers in this area.”