Canterbury City Council is set to abandon its Military Road offices and move to a smaller home - with the site primed for a housing development.

The authority, which has been at its current base since 1981, is planning to set up headquarters in a more effective location.

Its current home - deemed "no longer fit for purpose" to its large size - would likely be demolished and redeveloped into homes.

A potential new location is yet to be found, but council chiefs hope to have the move completed by late 2022 or early 2023.

The authority admits more than 45% of its current offices are not used due to the site's poor design and sheer size.

A shift to a more digitalised service is another factor behind the proposed move. In the past two years, face-to-face meetings at the offices have dramatically fallen from 17,700 to just over 4,000.

A report compiled by the council is set to be discussed at next week's Policy and Resources meeting.

It reads: "The current council office building is no longer fit for purpose due to the increasing high operational and maintenance costs such as poor insulation, a failing heating system, replacement of windows will be required.

"A new building would be fit for purpose, modern and energy efficient with lower running costs.

"By reducing the office space, land can be released for new housing, helping to achieve our housing targets and provide affordable housing for residents."

The authority has a target of building 800 homes each year until 2031.