Council houses in Kirkcaldy are lying empty for up to four months before being reallocated.
New figures show it is taking Fife Council an average of 120 days to re-let a home in the town after tenants move out.
This is despite record levels of homelessness in the region.
Kirkcaldy SNP councillor Carol Lindsay branded the delay “absolutely ridiculous” in the midst of a housing crisis.
And she has called on the local authority to get its act together to bring the waiting time down.
Four month wait is ‘absolutely ridiculous’
The figures relate to the first quarter of 2023.
And while the council says they are now improving, they show the reallocation time in the Kirkcaldy area is far longer than in other parts of Fife.
In Levenmouth, council houses are re-let within just 42 days and in Glenrothes it’s 45 days.
The next longest after Kirkcaldy is Dunfermline, which has a 67-day wait.
Ms Lindsay said: “To have a wait of four months before Fife Council can let a property out in Kirkcaldy is absolutely ridiculous – especially as we are in the midst of a housing crisis.
“I’ve been asking Fife Council why the waiting time to move new tenants into these properties is so high.
“But all they have told me is there are other figures skewing these numbers which I find to be an unacceptable answer.”
Difficult to explain to people waiting for a home
She added: “The number of constituents who come to me daily desperate to be housed is steadily rising.
“And it is very difficult to explain to them why they can’t be housed when they themselves point out several properties in their area lying vacant.
“The loss of revenue alone from these empty properties is bound to be astronomical.”
In April this year, Fife Council approved a £150m plan to build 1,250 new houses to alleviate homelessness.
According to Scottish Government figures, at that point 807 Fife households were without a permanent home.
And a further 16,000 were on a waiting list to be offered new homes.
Council says performance is ‘improving dramatically’
Fife Council housing manager Gavin Smith said the authority is working to minimise the time houses across Fife are empty.
He said: “There have been issues with a new reporting system which has affected our ability to monitor our performance accurately.
“But we do know the time taken to complete repairs is improving dramatically.
“Improving the regional variations in performance is also a priority for us.
“And we’ll be reporting on the progress we’re making at the people and communities scrutiny committee later this week.”
Conversation