A council house building programme in Dundee could be underway by the end of this financial year, if a new bid for funding is successful.

City housing chiefs have been told by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that the Scottish Government's aim is to announce which councils will be given a share of £8m by the end of June.

Dundee's earlier bid for a proportion of around £17m of government money was rejected, but the new application for some of the remaining £8.1m could be agreed by the summer.

According to Cosla the early decision on which local authorities will be allocated the funds is: "To ensure that councils can be on site by the end of 2009/10."

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Convener of Dundee City Council's housing committee Jimmy Black said: "We're very pleased that Cosla will make these decisions swiftly.

"Now it's up to us to put forward the best possible bid and win some of this money for Dundee.

"There are many seriously disabled people on our waiting list who need these new, wheelchair friendly houses, and we want to get on with building them as soon as possible. We'll also start work on bids for the next round of funding."

Around £17m of an overall pot of £25m was divided up among councils earlier this year, but Dundee did not receive any.

Now, according to a letter from Cosla to Dundee's director of housing Elaine Zwirlein, the remaining £8m will be allocated by the summer.

As Dundee has already submitted a detailed bid for cash to custom build houses for people with disabilities, a further application will not be needed, although the letter warns that councils: "May be required to expand on details provided in their original application or to supply further documentation to support the application. "

The letter concludes by explaining that the next funding round will be kicked off in the summer, and it is anticipated that allocation announcements will be made by Christmas.

(GK/JM)