Council houses belonging to Ipswich Borough have been standing empty for 120 days, figures show – six times longer than the council's target.

Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) guidelines say vacated properties should be refurbished and ready to be re-let within 19 days of the previous occupant leaving.

However, between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, the average turnaround time was 117.1 days – meaning homes stood empty for six times longer than the council's target.

The figures show a dramatic rise from the same period in 2020/2021 which stood at 86.15 days and 2019/2020 at 27.55 days – though in 2019/20 the turnaround target was 20 days rather than 19.

A statement from Ipswich Borough Council said figures included downtime due to Covid-19, and added that significant improvements have since been made.

"Like all providers in that period, we needed to cope with and then recover from the impact of the pandemic", the statement said.

"During the Covid-19 period, the council suspended void refurbishments – and repairs services, except emergency repairs – so when services resumed, there was a backlog.

"Matters have much improved since that emergency period and we are pleased that we are now back to completing 96% of repairs on time and the latest figures have only 34 void properties awaiting refurbishing, which was our pre-Covid work in progress level.

"During the last 16 months – 2021/22 and part-year 2022/23 – 578 empty properties have been refurbished to the council’s voids standard so that they were ready to let to new tenants."

The figures were revealed at Ipswich Borough Council's Strategic and Scrutiny Committee Meeting on September 1.

Documents show that between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, 60% of properties were let on time once refurbishment works had been completed.

This was 30% below the target.

IBC comments on the meeting papers say: "The target of 90% of properties let on time within 21 days following completion of void works has not been met across the 3 years.

"This is down to properties being refused on viewing, as well as the pandemic (2020/21), meaning that risk assessments were put in place following government guidance to reduce the transmission of Covid-19, making it as safe as possible for staff and members of the public when viewing a property.

"Flexibility was also given to potential tenants on tenancy start dates, primarily if downsizing from a larger property where a move to a sheltered flat could necessitate a longer move period."