Two former Suffolk care homes have been sold for a combined total of around £3million, it has been announced.

The sites – at Sidegate Lane in Ipswich and Camps Road in Haverhill – were sold by commercial agents Barker Storey Matthews under instruction from Suffolk County Council.

The sales were part of the local authority’s planned property disposals programme and both will be retained as supported housing sites by purchasers.

Both sites achieved over their asking price, with Sidegate Lane marketed at £1.5m and Camps Road up for sale at £1.45m.

The former residential care home at Sidegate Lane was put on the market in July last year and offers were received from seven bidders.

The home contains 30 en-suite bedrooms as well as ancillary facilities such as kitchen, servery and dining area.

The conclusion of the sale sees the premises at the 0.76-acre town site being used as emergency housing by Ipswich Borough Council.

The Camps Road site in Haverhill was originally put up for sale in 2015 with a conditional sale, subject to planning, on which consent was granted on appeal.

A number of bids were received for the 1.97-acre site, according to Barker Storey Matthews, and it is to be redeveloped for retirement accommodation by developer Churchill Retirement Living.

Churchill is a privately owned company which specialises in developing purpose-built retirement apartments across the UK.

An element of the site in Haverhill will also be allocated for private residential housing.

Steven Mudd, of Barker Storey Matthews’ office in Bury St Edmunds, who oversaw the sales, said: “We have worked under instruction for a number of years in the sale of properties suitable for use, or continuity of use, in the supported housing or residential care home sectors.

“These have mainly been instructions as part of local authority planned disposal programmes as housing and social care migrates from the public remit to that of private providers.”