£150m price tag to build 1300 homes

A £150 million price tag has been put on plans to build more than 1300 new homes in the city.

Traditional council houses will form part of the council-led initiative to address Edinburgh's housing shortage.

The price tag is revealed in a new business plan for the scheme, which is dependent on attracting both private and Government funding.

Under current plans, 50 per cent of the houses that will be built across the city will be classed as affordable, while the rest will be homes for sale and rent.

Councillor Paul Edie, the city's housing leader, said: "We will deliver these homes and manage them so that the problem of Edinburgh's housing shortage is tackled properly.

"We will deliver these homes as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Depending on Government investment, we may have homes ready in the next 18 months."

The first site that is being earmarked for house building is Gracemount.

Betty Stevenson, convener of Edinburgh Tenants Federation, said: "In the present housing crisis, with growing waiting lists and ever more repossessions, new council housing is even more desperately needed."