A review pledged by Belfast City Council after a councillor was found to have failed to declare his property interests has yet to be completed six months on.
The council has twice delayed publishing a report examining its processes following a standards watchdog probe last year into former SDLP councillor Declan Boyle.
The landlord, who manages dozens of student lets in South Belfast's Holylands area, was censured for "serious breaches" of the code of conduct.
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The watchdog examined complaints including concerns in 2016 that Mr Boyle had not declared his interests when chairing a committee that approved an £80,000 grant for the Holylands.
But its report also detailed several occasions when city hall officials advised Mr Boyle that he did not need to declare his properties and could remain in meetings.
It was noted how the council's then solicitor John Walsh, now chief executive, had claimed in a Freedom of Information response that Mr Boyle had received permission for a vague entry in his register of interests.
Mr Boyle had only written "various properties in Belfast" after being granted an exemption from declaring some details by former chief executive Suzanne Wylie.
But it emerged Ms Wylie had actually asked Mr Boyle to disclose his interests for a "defined geographic area of the city".
The advice from council officials contributed to Mr Boyle having an "honestly held" but "mistaken" view that his actions complied with the code of conduct, his representatives argued.
It took the council four months to respond to press queries about the watchdog report, which was released in early March.
In July the council said it would be reviewing its processes in relation to conflicts of interest.
The council initially said a report would be considered by councillors at a committee last November, before being delayed to January, and now February.
Housing campaigners Catu Belfast last year said the council's delayed response to the watchdog report was "inadequate".
Alliance councillor Micky Murray said: "While council officers are there to advise on conflicts of interest, it really is the responsibility of councillors to ensure that they declare any conflicts of interest, including those which may be ethically conflicting, rather than legally conflicting.
"It's important to ensure that both officers and councillors are on the same page when it comes to what constitutes a conflict of interest."
Mr Boyle was elected to the council in 2014 but lost his seat in the 2019 election.
He was among three SDLP councillors who quit the party in 2017 in a row over a council vote on abortion. All three failed to be re-elected as independents.
Mr Boyle was censured by the local government standards commissioner for not declaring his personal interests during council meetings that discussed improvements for areas where he had properties.
The commissioner said that had Mr Boyle still been a serving councillor, he would have been suspended.
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