Work to convert a former council headquarters into 60 flats could start next year - but plans to add two extra storeys to the building have been dropped.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) moved out of the Civic Centre in Tannery Lane in December last year in a switch it said would save about £1.3m.

The authority has now approved a budget of £550,000 to appoint a technical team and prepare a planning application for the site, which is still currently being used for committee meetings.

Documents show how between 50 and 60 one- and two-bed flats for “local families” are proposed as part of ABC’s bid to build 1,000 social homes over the next six to seven years.

Work on the scheme could begin next year as a contractor is set to be appointed in May 2026, but plans to increase the size of the building have been dropped “due to practical and cost constraints”.

Experts were tasked with advising ABC whether it would be possible to add two storeys on top of the current structure, which opened in 1983.

However, a report prepared ahead of a cabinet meeting last week states increasing the number of homes at the site would not be feasible.

“From a housing management point of view, increasing the number of homes there either for single people - who sometimes have complex needs - or families with children could make the new neighbourhood harder to manage,” it said.

“Fifty to 60 homes there, still subject to a small amount of variance, would be manageable, more than 80 would have the potential to make it less so.”

ABC, which is led by an Ashford Independents/Green Party coalition, approved the funding for the project at the cabinet meeting.

“The council aspires to deliver in the region of 1,000 new affordable and social council homes over the next six to seven years, with almost all of the identified projects starting on site before the next full council election,” the report states.

ABC says there are 33 sites in the borough on which up to 1,169 new council homes are possible.

Building on the Civic Centre will provide “much-needed town centre affordable housing,” the report adds.

ABC plans to submit a planning application to itself by February, and expects a decision by the planning committee by April 2026.

At the same cabinet meeting last week, an additional budget of £10.6m to “enable the continued acquisition” of social housing was also approved.

ABC leader Cllr Noel Ovenden (Ash Ind) said the authority is taking the “right approach”.

“With almost 1,800 households on our register and more than 280 in costly temporary accommodation, we must act now,” he said.

“Delivering 1,000 new homes through a balanced mix of new-builds, acquisitions and repurposing the Civic Centre is ambitious but financially sustainable.

“The £550,000 to progress Civic Centre plans and the £10.6m for further acquisitions will keep momentum, secure value, and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation.”

Prior to the pandemic, ABC invested about £70,000 on improvements to the Civic Centre, but further bills for upkeep were expected in the coming years, which was part of the reason for relocating.

A spokesman for the authority said: “We will be appointing architects and technical consultants to prepare a planning application for the Civic Centre, which we expect to submit in early spring.

Find out about planning applications that affect you by visiting the Public Notice Portal.

“If the planning application receives approval, a contractor will carry out the conversion work on behalf of ABC.

“The homes produced would be provided to local families through the council’s housing register.”

The Civic Centre sits close to the former Kent Wool Growers site - abandoned since 2017 - which is also set to be turned into social housing.

ABC purchased the land in 2023 and is planning to build as many as 170 homes on the 2.9-acre site.

Demolition of buildings on the plot began earlier this month.