Once complete it will have around 750 new and converted energy-efficient homes in landscaped grounds only a mile from Chichester city centre. One-bedroom flats start from £265,000 from Linden Homes (01243 781494/ lindenhomes.co.uk), which is offering Help To Buy on a selection of them, a community garden will be created by Chichester Community Development Trust and there will be cycle paths through the 85 acres of landscaped park.

St John’s Hospital in the Essex county town of Chelmsford has also been restored and converted into one and two-bedroom apartments, with two and three bedroom new-build houses in the grounds.

They are also for sale from £269,950 with Linden Homes (01245 768336/lindenhomes.co.uk). Used as a barracks during the Napoleonic Wars then until 1828, St John’s became a workhouse and, rebuilt in 1889 after a fire, became a hospital in the 1920s.

Some Chelmsford natives may feel ambivalent towards the luxurious homes though. For many, the old NHS hospital was the place they were born.