Four vacant cottages in Elgin will get £271,000 towards the costs of refurbishment.
Properties at the bottom of Ladyhill and two end terraces on Victoria Road have been lying empty for years.
But now, they will be brought back into use.
Members of the corporate committee agreed funds from the housing revenue budget can be used for the renovations.
Ladyhill cottages revamp
All four properties are held in trust by Moray Council. But the two funds supporting them are in deficit.
Elgin North councillor Sandy Keith told the meeting on Tuesday bringing the cottages back into use was a “cheap” way to provide accommodation.
He said: “We’re getting four properties. They should be doing the job they were built for”.
Elgin South councillor Graham Leadbitter felt trust deeds could be “thorny” and was pleased to see the houses come back into use.
He said: “The properties at Ladyhill are particularly prominent and are at the main entrance of a tourist attraction in the centre of Elgin.
“Ensuring they are well kept into the future is important.”
‘Prominent’ town centre properties
Head of housing Edward Thomas said there were “complex reasons” why the cottages have been vacant for so long.
He added that rent would cover maintenance and give and cover the £271,000 spend over a 20 year period.
And letting them out would cancel a yearly council tax debt of almost £10,000.
The Victoria Road cottages are two of eight built to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria in the late 1800s.
But they were abandoned after being repeatedly hit by flooding.
Under the terms of the trust deed, Jubilee Cottages should be used as dwelling places for “poor people of respectable character”.
They will require extensions as part of the refurbishment, which is expected to cost £155,000.
Six mid-terraced houses between them were turned into rehabilitation and assessment units in 2017.
Ladyhill cottages were gifted to the former City and Royal Burgh of Elgin by the Right Honourable Sir Archibald Williamson in 1921.
C-listed buildings
They were to house armed forces veterans from Moray and Nairnshire. But they have been empty for about 20 years.
A £64,000 grant from the Town Centre Capital Fund was secured to improve Sulva Cottage.
But when construction started earlier this year further problems emerged taking costs to £90,000.
And a similar amount is needed to upgrade Messines Cottage next door.
All four buildings are category C listed.
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