Aberdeenshire Council has set aside £60 million for housing as it announced its budget for 2016/17.

Almost £700m of funding for local services has been agreed by councillors.

In addition, £45m in reserves has been set aside for specific projects and priorities including £5m for regeneration, £4m for affordable housing, £2m on renewable energy, £5m for the City Region Deal and £1m for capital projects.

Councillor Richard Thomson said: "We are investing almost £700 million into local services. This includes investment in active travel, building more affordable homes, the Aberdeen City Region Deal, climate change, estate rationalisation, regeneration and a new community campus at Peterhead."

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Recommending the Housing Revenue Account, Councillor Anne Allan added that they had "achieved Scottish Housing Quality Standard by March 2015 and our house modernisation programme continues apace."

She continued: "We are forecasting spend of over £27m in the current year on capital projects including replacement kitchens, bathrooms, windows/doors heating systems and insulation projects. We are also progressing new build housing developments at Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Inverurie.

"We remain hopeful following recent Government announcements on the City Region Deal and additional funding from the Scottish Government that, in conjunction with our partners, we can identify further opportunities to deliver more affordable housing."

(LM)