A major redevelopment of the former St Clement’s Hospital site off Foxhall Road in Ipswich has come a step forward with the submission of an outline planning application.

The scheme would see 48 new homes created in the Victorian buildings that were the heart of the original hospital and a further 179 houses on the 31-acre site.

The application has been submitted by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust – which would be expected to sell it on to a developer once planning permission had been obtained.

The application is not included in the development plan for Ipswich but it is understood that the planners at the borough council see no problems with the design or the concept of the scheme.

However there would need to be negotiations about details of the proposal, including how many of the properties should be available as “affordable homes”.

The proposals are that the main hospital buildings should be converted into 12 town houses, 10 duplex flats, and 26 flats.

The social club would be retained – as would the bowls green and pavilion. The St Clement’s Golf Course is not part of the application.

A public consultation and exhibition about the proposals for the hospital site was held last year and the proposals have not varied greatly from those seen then.

A spokesman for the Foundation Trust said: “We have no developer signed up at present – our aim is to get permission and then look for someone to take it on.”

The borough is likely to look for a significant proportion of homes to be “affordable” in a development as large as this.

There would be a single vehicle entrance on to Foxhall Road, using the existing entrance to the hospital, and additional pedestrian entrances to the site.

If permission is granted early next year, the search for a buyer for the site is likely to be stepped up – but before any work happens on the ground detailed planning permission will have to be sought for the individual elements of the development.