Dewar House, which sits directly next door to Arbroath Library on Hill Terrace, served as Angus Council’s housing office for many years.

The three-storey sandstone property was closed a number of years ago as part of a programme to reduce the number of council buildings across the region.

Now a proposal by local applicant Mayara Agnes seeks to transform the property into 20 flats.

Dewar House sits inside Arbroath’s conservation area.

Architect AB Roger & Young say the main elevation fronting Hill Terrace will be virtually unchanged.

“The building has sat empty for an extensive amount of time,” the practice said.

“The proposed flats will bring life back to the building and prevent it sitting redundant and decaying.

“The building has already been adapted from a tenement into offices. These proposals see it being converted back into domestic housing.”

A planning statement added: “The building divides well into 20 units, which offer a range of apartments from studio to three-bedroom flats.”

The proposal also involves two new three-bedroom semi-detached houses.

Those would be built on land which was an overspill car park behind Dewar House.

On the overall project, the architects said: “We believe the design has been sympathetic to the conservation area and nearby listed buildings.”