Dundee City Council spent more than £26,000 upgrading a two-bedroom flat, The Courier can reveal.
The money was spent on renovations to the flat in the Pentland area, which a council source says is “a disgrace”.
The source said the ground-floor flat in Loganlee Terrace would not cost that amount to buy under the right to buy legislation.
They said it is the largest amount spent on a single house they have ever seen and said housing staff agree the sum of money should not have been spent.
Labour group leader Councillor Kevin Keenan says he found the repair bill “astonishing” and is planning to contact director of housing Elaine Zwirlein and chief executive David Dorward about the issue.
The council source said: “It’s a ridiculous amount of money to spend on renovating one house we couldn’t believe it when we heard about it.”
Mr Keenan said: “Some time ago, I raised a similar issue with council as I find it incredible that such large sums of money require to be spent on a property.
“Considering we have an extensive programme of investment to bring the quality of our homes in line with the Scottish Quality Housing Standards, delivering heating systems, windows and upgrading bathrooms and kitchens, therefore in light of this level of investment, I find a £26,000 repair bill astonishing.
“When I raised the issue previously, the council’s internal auditors got involved to see on that occasion that there was nothing untoward. I have no reason to believe that anything untoward will have happened in this case however, I will seek the reassurance from the director of housing.
“This year saw a rent increase of 5% delivered by the SNP administration while they rejected the Labour group’s proposals for a lower rent increase that would have seen an investment in housing officers whose responsibility would be to ensure that our properties were being maintained.
“We also suggested that the yearly gas maintenance check should be used as a further check on our properties.
“We had hoped that this early additional inspection would have been used to develop a policy of preventative maintenance and cut down the chance of there ever being a £26,000 spend on any single property.
“The Council Housing Revenue Account is showing £1.5 million in rent arrears with a debt building at £21,000 per week due to the bedroom tax alone.
“This, coupled with £26,000 repair bills suggests to me that the SNP will be looking at an even larger increase next time they review the rents in the city, unless they take action now.”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: “When a tenant moves out of a house for whatever reason the council has a duty to ensure that it is up to the required standards for the next one. In some cases this can mean substantial repairs, redecorating or other associated costs.
“The housing department has an annual budget for this type of work.”