Updated projections show £14.3m allocated for new-build council housing will remain unspent, alongside £45m set aside to buy existing homes — more than half of the year’s acquisition budget.

A report to the risk management and best value committee, chaired by SNP councillor Kate Campbell, also revealed an £11m underspend in homelessness services.

Cllr Campbell said the figures demonstrated a “complete lack of focus” by the administration amid a worsening housing crisis. However, Labour finance convener Mandy Watt insisted tackling the emergency remained an “absolute priority”, adding that council staff were “flat out” working to address the situation.

Cllr Watt said the authority had a duty to ensure value for money and stressed that the unspent funds would be rolled into next year’s housing programme.

The underspend comes as the council approaches ten months of a freeze on new council house allocations, a measure introduced to free up more properties for temporary accommodation.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Campbell said: “During a housing emergency, to fail to spend £60m allocated for homes shows a complete lack of focus on the number one issue facing the city.”

She also questioned whether Edinburgh would be able to make effective use of additional housing funding announced by the Scottish Government.

“Given these revelations about massive underspends and failures to take basic steps, what confidence can the people of Edinburgh have that it will be used effectively by this Labour administration?” she added.

During the committee meeting, Cllr Campbell challenged officials on a £10.7m underspend in temporary accommodation. Council director of place Gareth Barwell said the saving represented good value for money.

Cllr Campbell responded: “Is that value for money, or is that actually a saving being made because we’ve got failures to accommodate that have gone through the roof?”

Mr Barwell said he “politely disagreed”, arguing the underspend was not the result of increased rough sleeping but of severe pressure on the supply of temporary accommodation. He said part of the saving came from ending the use of unlicensed HMOs and B&Bs, which the council had relied on during the pandemic but which were ruled unlawful in late 2024.

“Failure to accommodate” refers to instances where the council does not meet its legal duty to house someone presenting as homeless.

Edinburgh’s temporary accommodation system has been under extreme strain since early last year, when the authority stopped using unlicensed properties.

Mr Barwell acknowledged the scale of the challenge: “I won’t shy away from the fact we need to find a way to increase the supply of temporary accommodation so we can accommodate everybody that needs it.”

He said a draft budget prepared for councillors would include significant investment in housing. Finance director Richard Lloydbithell said the proposals would commit “as much as we can prudently and sustainably afford”.

Mr Lloydbithell warned the crisis was set to deepen, with an estimated additional 750 people expected to require temporary accommodation each year.