Fife Councillors have agreed on plans to invest in affordable housing over the next five years.

The £85m strategy will see 2,700 affordable homes created across the area.

Depute Council Leader, Councillor David Ross, welcomed the news.

He said: "We have a housing crisis in Fife with around 12,000 people on waiting and transfer lists, including 2,500 suffering or threatened with homelessness.

"We are working hard with our housing association partners to deliver our target of 2,700 new affordable homes by 2017. The strategy we agreed today sets out where many of these new homes will be built and how they will be funded.

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"So far we have identified how 2,306 new affordable homes can be provided. This is already 1,000 more than were provided over the last five years. But everyone in Fife deserves to have the comfort and security of a decent home that meets their needs and that they can afford. So we will be pushing as hard as we can to find ways of building the remaining 400 properties needed to hit our ambitious target.

"The council is already committing an additional £85 million to this housing programme and we have been making the case consistently to the Scottish Government for more funding for affordable housing.

"This is clearly the right thing to do. Building new affordable homes not only addresses the housing crisis but it saves money in many other ways such as by improving health and reducing fuel poverty. It also creates much needed jobs and apprentice places in the Fife economy."

(JP/MH)