Housing where shops, schools, public transport and possibly pubs are close by, with green spaces and access to nature, and where heritage is preserved, should be the norm for all new developments, according to guidelines set out by the government.

King’s Cross in London, for example, where industrial buildings have been converted into shops, restaurants and public spaces, and where schools and care homes mingle with social and private housing near to a cleaned-up canal and nature reserve, could become the model, according to the new vision.

Or Temple Gardens, near Bath, where a vacant Grade II-listed pub was restored and reopened alongside new homes. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has highlighted the case as “the kind of community-focused development these reforms will deliver”.