FORRES and Buckie will see a total of 92 new council houses built over the next 12 months.
Moray councillors today agreed to accept tenders for the work from Springfield Properties Ltd.
Sixty-seven houses will be built at Ferrylea in Forres and the other 25 at Barhill Road in Buckie.
The twin developments will cost £11.5 million, with more than £2.7 million coming from the Scottish Government and Moray Council funding the remainder.
The houses at Buckie will represent the third phase of the council’s development of the Barhill Road site where 30 units were completed last summer and a further 20 are due for completion later this month.
Once built, the latest houses will bring to nearly 300 the number of new council homes to be completed in Moray since 2010.
Councillor Eric McGillivray, chairman of the communities committee, said: "This latest investment will go some way to alleviating the shortage of affordable housing in Moray and that is to be welcomed.
"However, to put it in context, the council would need to build 425 new homes a year for the next 10 years simply to keep pace with demand."
