The site at 219-245 Blackness Road has lain empty since Dundee City Council demolished the 26 properties which made up a tenement block there in 2021.

The local authority subsequently unveiled plans to build 24 apartments in its place, at an estimated cost of £4.5m. The new homes will be made up of 18 two-bedroom flats and six one-bedroom flats that will be wheelchair-accessible.

The plans were given the green light in February 2022 but work has yet to commence.

However, figures obtained by councillors representing the area have revealed the estimated cost of the project has now more than doubled.

Speaking at a housing committee meeting on Monday, councillor Fraser Macpherson said: “(Going back) to August 2018, I have a memo indicating that demolition and rebuild looked very attractive at that point – a cost of £3.275m.

“I now have an email from the planning department dated February 23 indicating the total build cost is now £10.3m. That’s an absolutely worrying increase in the cost.”

He added: “Speed is now of the essence with regard to this particular project. We gave a commitment to the community at the time of demolition that these flats would be provided – they are vitally needed.”

The total cost of the project will now be determined through a tender process, which members of the housing committee were asked to approve at Monday’s meeting.

Council chiefs say a two-stage competitive tender would be the most “advantageous route” to securing a price for the development.

The result of the tender process will be presented to councillors at a committee meeting scheduled for December.

The decision to raze the Blackness Road tenement block – instead of repairing the decaying staircases – proved to be controversial after it was revealed some tenants living in the blocks were not consulted.

Council officials claimed a majority of residents backed the plans but a freedom of information request subsequently revealed six private landlords who do not live there had been counted as “residents”.

Before that, former housing convener Jimmy Black, who led calls for the local authority to reconsider its decision, had argued that the cost of repairing the stairwells, which has been put at between £880,000 and £1.2m, is preferable and cheaper than spending more to demolish the tenements down and rebuild on the site.