The former Babergh council headquarters in Hadleigh is set to be partially demolished and turned into 53 new homes – with other former public buildings in the town converted into a further 25 homes.

Babergh has submitted a planning application to itself to demolish about half of the building on Corks Lane – retaining listed elements and the former offices overlooking the cricket pitch at the back – and convert part into new flats while building new houses.

The council also wants to convert the former Angel Court care home into 21 affordable flats.

The five listed buildings on the Corks Lane site will be repaired, refurbished and converted into residential accommodation to retain their distinctive presence on the site.

The office pavilions, built in the 1970s, will be converted into apartments rather than demolished, maintaining the backdrop to Hadleigh Cricket Ground. These proposals have been drawn up in consultation with heritage consultants to ensure the proposals cause the least possible harm to the buildings.

Under the plans submitted, in total the former Corks Lane site will offer: 20 one-bedroom apartments, 19 two-bedroom apartments, eight three-bedroom apartments, one four-bedroom apartment, three three-bedroom houses, and two four-bedroom houses.

The former car park and Bridge House site across the river could include two four-bedroom houses and two five-bedroom houses.

The proposals for the Angel Court site, on Angel Street in the town centre, would see 21 flats built, all of which would be affordable housing.

The flats would include 15 one-bedroom flats and six two-bedroom flats, all for affordable homes – but a mixture of rent and partial-purchase.

Frank Lawrenson, Babergh District Council Cabinet Member for assets, said: “Hadleigh is a beautiful town in a stunning part of our countryside, and everyone agrees that leaving sites empty in the long term does the town a disservice.

“By bringing both the former office site in Corks Lane and the former care home site at Angel Court back into use, these proposals will help Hadleigh continue to be the thriving market town we all know, while also helping meet the real housing need there is in the town.”