Plans to build 2,000 homes in Aberdeen over the next two years could be approved this week.
Members of the local authority are expected to select a development partner for a project to build houses for sale and rent across the city when they meet tomorrow.
It is expected some of the first to be built will be at the former site of Summerhill Academy, where space has been earmarked for 350 properties.
Under the arrangement, Aberdeen City Council would own part of the homes, many of which would be affordable.
And a number of the properties would be reserved for key workers, such as teachers.
The move is part of the Labour-led city council administration’s strategic infrastructure plan, which has housing as a key priority.
A recent report, commissioned by homelessness charity Shelter Scotland, the Chartered Institute for Housing Scotland, and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, said housing in the Granite City and the wider north-east was a major issue due to rising prices.
It said: “Some areas have experience significant inflationary pressures.
“The recent 5% annual increase in house prices in Aberdeen illustrates this.”
It also said that to combat the problem, at least 12,000 affordable homes a year would have to be made available in Scotland over the next five years.
Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: “We are calling on all political parties in Scotland to acknowledge there is a crisis by making the building of new affordable homes a priority in their manifestos for the forthcoming Holyrood elections and use the 12,000 target as a benchmark for their ambitions.”