The delay in building more than 60 houses in Swindon could have lost the council millions of pounds which might have covered an expected overspend on its budget.

That’s the claim made by leader of the Labour opposition in Euclid Street, Councillor Jim Grant.

Coun Grant quizzed the council’s Conservative cabinet when it was briefed on the expected £3m overspend by best April by Councillor Russell Holland, the cabinet member for finance.

The Labour councillor asked how many houses had been built by the council’s wholly-owned housing company since it was set up in early 2107.

He was told it was the seven new houses built in Euclid Street, and was also told that work on those houses started before the housing company was set up, and that the council had made £350,000 out of the scheme.

Coun Grant said this was a disappointing return, and pointed out that when the housing company was set up it had expected to have raised £3m in revenue by this time.

He said: “A previous report from February 2017 said by this time 62 houses would have been built raising £3.1m in profits.

“If you had achieved that it would have mitigated against the budget overspend. Why haven’t you been able to deliver this?”

The report to cabinet from its February 2017 meeting said, as well as the Euclid Street houses, there could have been five built in Shaw Ridge, 16 in Shaw Village, five in Sparcells, 21 in Windmill Hill and eight in Idovers Drive.

Coun Grant added: ”Can you assure me the land will have council-built houses on it?”

The cabinet member for strategic planning Coun Gary Sumner said: “The planning process is not without its complications. Your Labour councillors are not always supportive when discussing sites. You say you want these houses built but ward members are often Not in My Back Yard.

Chairman of the council’s Scrutiny Committee, Labour councillor Bob Wright, continued the questioning at the committee’s meeting on Monday.

He said: “When will we start seeing the money that would help this council with its budget, from the housing company”

Leader of the council David Renard said money had already been received from the sale of the seven houses in Euclid Street, but agreed that those funds would be reinvested in the company to allow it to build more houses.

Coun Wright said: "I meant when will we see money we can use for children's services for example, not reinvesting it?"

The council's director of finance Mick Bowden said if the company decided to sell land rather than build houses it could be passing on profits to the authority by 2019/20.