Concerns have been raised over council houses in Dalgety Bay sitting empty for up to eight months whilst repairs are being made.

And local councillor David Barratt has described the turn-around period for properties from acquisition to allocation as "ridiculous”.

Cllr Barratt raised the issue at last week's Fife Council meeting, where council leader David Ross acknowledged there were issues, and a report will now be prepared in the new year to look at improving the process.

Homes on Couston Road and Forth View were highlighted, having been empty for around a year. Works are set to be completed on them very soon, with tenants recently being allocated.

Speaking about the two properties, which were brought into council ownership through the Property Acquisition (Buy Back) scheme, Cllr Barratt said: “The first was bought in May 2023 and required new wiring and heating. Works are scheduled to be complete by mid December.

"The other was bought in March 2023 and required heating, rewiring and a new kitchen and it was allocated in November 2023.

"But taking eight months to turn properties around from acquisition to allocation is ridiculous.”

Void times have gone up in the aftermath of the pandemic, but Cllr Barratt did not think this was a valid an excuse for such extensive delays.

Cllr Barratt said: “The average void time for properties at the moment is just over 50 days, which is significantly up from where it was before the pandemic, when around 25 days was more typical.

“Averages, of course, hide the extremes within the system, and something is clearly going wrong when we have two properties taking eight months to turn around. You could build a new house in eight months, so it shouldn't take that long to upgrade the electrics or heating.”

Cllr Barratt said the cutting of void times should be a priority, adding: “It's is something my group has been raising in recent months and we will continue to put pressure on the Labour Administration to address it.

"Clearly, every day a property is empty is a day the Council isn't collecting rent and is a day a family in dire need of a home is not adequately housed.

“The Council has failed to resource necessary works and as a result has lost thousands of pounds in rent and left families in inadequate homes.”

Fife Council service manager Greig Henderson said the council works hard to turn around empty properties as quickly as possible but sometimes delays are unavoidable.

"These properties in Dalgety Bay have all been allocated to new tenants but have all needed substantial internal work and renovation to be done before people can move in," he said.

"It's hoped tenants will be able to move into the properties before Christmas."

Cllr Barratt said it was at least encouraging that the council was acquiring new properties through the buy back scheme.

“The Scottish Government subsidise acquisitions by £50,000 for every house, and it's welcome that the Council do appear to be buying more homes following significant pressure from the SNP Group in Fife," he said.

"However, they need to start resourcing repairs to these properties to bring them up to an acceptable standard in a reasonable timescale.”