City slickers with £600,000 to spare are being offered the chance to buy the ultimate in penthouse living.

The chance of relaxing in a rooftop hot tub is one of the lures of a £3 million development in North Street, Brighton.

The city's shopping centre is fast becoming the most fashionable place for young, rich professionals to live as work starts on the conversion of Prince's House in Prince's Place.

Prince's House, a listed Thirties building off North Street, is being converted from offices into 32 flats and restored back to its original state.

With the New Road colonnade also being converted into flats and rumours that part of Hanningtons will go to housing, North Street is being transformed into a trendy city living quarter.

But not everyone is entranced with the development and some say it is yet another example of rich Londoners forcing locals off the property ladder.

With the flats in Prince's House expected to sell for £200,000 to £600,000, they will be out of the price range of most locals.

Prince's Place is being pedestrianised by developers Baron Homes and builders Barnes and Elliott and the ornate brickwork, mosaics and blue windows are being restored as part of the project.

The ground floor of the building is currently occupied by ASK restaurant and two more units will be let to a clothing shop and another restaurant.

Richard Blencowe, of Baron Homes, said research was carried out by Brighton and Hove City Council and heritage groups to ensure the refurbishment was historically accurate.

The former Norwich Union building was designed by the eminent Thirties architect HS Goodhart-Rendel and used by local builders Braybons for a showhouse to advertise the Bevendean Estate in 1932 and 1934.

Two three-bedroom penthouses, complete with rooftop hot tubs and views over the sea are expected to sell for about £600,000.

Work should be completed by December.

Jenny Backwell, of Brighton Housing Trust, said: "The only saving grace is I would rather people from London go into these flats and that will make more of the little houses available for people from down here.

"We need more housing for people who live here, not for Londoners. The way things are going is totally self-destructive. We need to look at the total housing strategy. All this does it push the upper end of the market up and that doesn't help anyone who lives in Brighton."