Concern has been raised at the almost £1m estimated cost of rebuilding four small shops destroyed by an arson attack.
The units in Wythburn Crescent, St Helens, were set alight in the early hours of November 1, 2018, after what Merseyside Police described as a "botched burglary attempt".
The fire led to the demolition of the units, which had previously housed takeaways, a post office and a hair salon.
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The site is owned by Torus, the housing and property group, which describes itself as the north west's largest affordable housing provider.
Torus were granted planning permission by St Helens Council to redevelop the shops in 2020, with local MP Conor McGinn welcoming the move to keep the "much loved" shops open for the community.
However thanks to covid and spikes in material costs, internal estimates put the construction of redeveloping the shops at around £940,000, not including further spend on consultants and surveys.
Insurance covering the building only paid out £225,000 following the fire, leaving the bulk of the costs to come from Torus's coffers.
The ECHO can reveal that senior managers within Torus raised concerns about the eye-watering figures, and even considered restarting the planning process with a design involving cheaper materials.
However they decided to press ahead to avoid the expense of a time-consuming new planning application and to restore confidence that Torus could deliver planned projects.
A spokeswoman for Torus told the ECHO: "A fire in 2018 caused substantial damage to the row of shops within the Moss Bank area of St Helens.
"The remaining structure created significant issues for local residents, so Torus made the decision to demolish the entire block and rebuild to a new design.
"Part of the cost for this project is being met by insurance, but this relates only to the part of the structure that was damaged by fire.
"Torus is meeting the additional cost from income generated through its commercial portfolio.
"We have also made some enhancements to the design and use of materials that were set out in the original planning application.
"This is to ensure the rebuild can proceed quickly and recognises that the Moss Bank shops are a much-needed community resource.
"This, coupled with rising construction prices across the sector as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, explains why costs for the development have increased.
"In line with Torus’ commitment to operate as a long-term community investor, the finished scheme will benefit from additional safety measures and provide much more flexible and future-ready commercial spaces."
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