CIVIC chiefs in Southampton have been accused of wasting time before building much-needed new homes on the site of a former school.

Permission was granted last year to build more than 100 homes on the former Oaklands School site, but local councillors say they are disappointed no work has taken place yet.

They say it is a "scandal" that more has not been done to build new homes in the area, but the council says an announcement on a developer to build the homes is due "soon".

The school closed in 2012, with demolition work beginning on site the following year.

Last year the council put forward a plan to build 103 homes on the site, which was given the green light at the end of October.

Under the plans, a developer would buy the site and build the homes, as opposed to the council itself, while 41 flats are earmarked for a nearby site in Andromeda Road and six at the former Lordshill Housing Office.

Independent Councillor Against the Cuts Keith Morrell has accused the council of "failing to alleviate the pressure on housing in the city" by not moving more quickly with the scheme after the school closed.

He said: "The city needs homes, and the land is available on which to build at Lordshill, and yet nothing is happening, so I think the council needs to answer for that.

"They need to explain why there's a waiting list of more than 10,000 people and yet it's not building the homes, or at least selling the land to a private developer and getting money into the city's coffers."

Saying the delay was "scandalous", he added: "We would like to see homes built on the Oaklands site as soon as possible to help alleviate the pressure on housing in the city."

But city council leader Simon Letts, who said the Councillors Against the Cuts were "hypocritical" having opposed the planning application for the site last year, added: "We are trying to achieve two things.

"First, a capital receipt which pays for us spending the money on the Oaklands Pool refurbishment, which they wanted, and also the maximum number of affordable homes for the site.

"We are trying to achieve best value so rather than rushing in it's right we get the right homes and the right tenants there, so people who are on our waiting lists."

A spokesman for the city council said: “We are in active discussions with a number of potential partners on this and the surrounding sites, and we hope to make an announcement soon.

"The outcome that we are working towards is the maximum amount of well-designed, new, affordable accommodation that can be achieved.”

It comes after the Daily Echo revealed that the city council has axed plans for regeneration of whole estates, instead aiming to tear down and replace the city's worst blocks.

Labour say the change was forced up them by Government caps for social rent which have left their housing budget £30m a year worse off, and that residents have said that is what they want.

But some residents in areas such as Millbrook and Maybush, which was earmarked for the next regeneration project, say they feel "betrayed" while the Conservative opposition have accused Labour of failing areas in need of wider regeneration.