For sale: 120 historic hospitals, hundreds of rooms, large gardens

Britain will face a major conservation challenge over the next decade, when more than 120 historic hospital buildings will become surplus, a report warned yesterday.

The joint study by English Heritage and National Health Service Estates warns that most of the buildings are listed and that their historic architecture makes a significant contribution to the character of their locale.

The expected deluge of health care buildings - often dating from the 18th and 19th centuries - on to the market is the result of changing health care provision.

More than 120 historic hospitals, mainly long-stay institutions, have already closed or are scheduled to do so as part of the Care in the Community programme.

They are among a flood of former public buildings being decommissioned, particularly by the Ministry of Defence, as a result of cutbacks and changes in approach.

Such buildings are particularly vulnerable to vandalism and are likely to deteriorate rapidly if they are left empty, warns the report, Historic Buildings and the Health Service.

The properties which their owners must attempt to dispose of in a sluggish property market include workhouse infirmaries for the treatment of contagious diseases, county asylums, sanatoria for tuberculosis sufferers and specialist hospital buildings for the care of skin and venereal diseases which date from early this century. One major problem is that many of the buildings stand in green belt land and are listed, which constrains their redevelopment.

Some, such as Claybury hospital in Redbridge, north-east London, are so large that alternative uses can be difficult to find. The huge hospital complex stands in a green belt which features historic woodland and is being decommissioned prior to being put on the market. In such cases - particularly where the buildings are in poor condition - their market value can be very low because of their perceived difficulty to sell.

Other buildings feature spectacular chapels which are often of considerable architectural interest. Examples include the Grade II listed chapel attached to Brompton hospital, Chelsea, and which has been sold to a developer who is awaiting planning permission to convert it into flats. Its fate is uncertain. But the report sounds a note of optimism. "Many major hospital and medical complexes comprise remarkable architectural compositions in prominent locations, often set in beautiful landscaped grounds. When they become redundant, with skill, imagination and vision, they can be adapted to a wide range of alternative uses. They should be regarded as potential assets."

Examples of successful re-use include the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum in Wandsworth, south-west London, which has been converted into a drama school, flats and commercial units. The former Royal Waterloo hospital, south London, has also been successfully adapted by Schiller International University.

Virginia Bottomley, the Secretary of State for National Heritage and the former health secretary, said of the report: "I am delighted that this example of collaboration between the health and heritage worlds should be the first publication I have been asked to endorse on my arrival at the Department of National Heritage."