Rooms to rent: Heathfield House is now being rented out piecemeal
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Unable to find an approved bidder or use for the Grade II-listed building, the cash-strapped council has got agents to rent out single rooms to ‘guardians’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Listed building Heathfield House is being rented out on a room-by-room basis by agents on behalf of owners Croydon Council, an organisation as bankrupt of imagination as it is of money.
It is more than two years since the council’s efforts to lease the building to other organisations ended in failure, leaving the place vacant, vulnerable to squatters and suffering from long-term neglect by the cash-strapped council.
Having been rented on a short-term lease during the covid lockdowns to a money-spinning business that used Heathfield House as a special school, that deal failed to be extended. The education business wanted to have its special needs pupils contained behind 9ft wire mesh fences that did nothing to enhance the Victorian Italianate villa’s looks. Planning permission was refused.
Efforts to rent out the property earlier this year floundered when the council refused to lease Heathfield House to the only bidder. The council, meanwhile, incurred significant costs in evicting squatters and hiring security guards to patrol the once pristine gardens day and night.
Boarded up: windows and doors at council-owned Heathfield House last year showed evidence of emergency repairs done on the cheap
Now, “innovative” housing agents the Lowe Group are marketing Heathfield House, room by room, to “key workers, young workers and artists”, effectively for them to act as “guardians” of the property, and prevent any further incursions.
Grade II-listed Heathfield House, built in 1837, and its once admired ornamental gardens, standing in prime position in the Addington Hills at the top of Gravel Hill with sweeping views across farmland towards New Addington, was once the home of millionaire philanthropist Raymond Riesco.
Together with his prized ceramics collection (parts of which were sold off on the cheap by Jason Perry and his fellow Tory Philistines the last time they were in power), Riesco left Heathfield House to the people of Croydon upon his death in 1964. The gift came with strings: Heathfield has a legal covenant that insists that it is only used for educational purposes.
In the past, Croydon Council got round this by using the building for staff training. Now it has virtually no staff left to train…
The possibility of moving the council’s registry office to Heathfield was also considered, and given as an excuse to the Croydon Ecology Centre for preventing them from returning to use parts of the building for their open days, tools storage and other activities.
Renting the building out piecemeal, even to “key workers”, might see Croydon Council in breach of its covenant conditions, if anyone was to consider challenging this repurposed use.
According to Lowe Group, the building has been refurbished to make it habitable, and they have been marketing rooms there since June. Of 17 bedrooms (with only three showers and six toilets between them, plus two kitchens shared among the tenants), all but one is currently occupied.
Rents on each room vary, typically around £650 per month, suggesting that the council is at least receiving some income, after agent fees and maintenance costs.
Impressive: despite the lengthy neglect by the council, Heathfield House remains an impressive-looking, 19th Century building
It is perhaps significant that Lowe do not refer to Heathfield House at all in their online marketing, but call the property “Coombe Lane”.
They say, “If you are looking for countryside living within 39 minutes of central London, Coombe Lane is the perfect home for you.
“This 17-bed property boasts acres of views, with green grass and flowers surrounding the property.” Ahh, the famous green grass, as opposed to grass of other hues and tints… None of the previously scrupulous gardening and planting that used to be carried out by the council’s parks department has been carried out in the gardens since 2019.
“The high ceilings and wooden joinery throughout has been carefully looked after…”, that, too, might be viewed as debatable, “… and now needs respectful licensee’s to call it home.” “Licensee” is what the Lowe Group call their tenants.
“Coombe Lane Tram stop is a five-minute walk up a picturesque lane, with links to Croydon’s hot spots.” Hot spots! Whoop!
“Book your viewing today and experience Coombe Lane in its glory.”
Croydon’s cash-strapped council is in a bit of a bind with Heathfield House, which successive administrations had neglected and ignored for decades, leaving it in an increasingly ramshackle condition. It might be interesting to hear, discreetly, what the current occupants think of their living accommodation.
Heathfield House’s history is still listed on the council’s website among the collection of parks and open spaces, with its “facilities” described as “Woodland and rhododendron walks”, and “Ornamental gardens and ponds”. It is unclear what public access there is to the grounds now the house has so many new tenants.
The Lowe Group, for their part, say that they “deliver cost-effective, innovative solutions to managing vacant spaces, which create social impact and support local communities”. Which is nice.
Their spiel states: “We believe that vacant properties present inspiring spaces for key workers, young professionals and artists to live, work and create. We are passionate about bringing these otherwise vacant spaces back to life, creating affordable workspaces and close communities.
“We also understand the significant costs of leaving a property vacant. We have a strong track record in reducing security costs, mitigating empty business rates, and where possible, generating additional income on otherwise vacant assets.” THey must have sounded like just the ticket to the council bureaucrats in Fisher’s Folly.
“We evaluate every property on its own merit, and will always propose the most suitable service for managing vacant properties. Whether it be property guardianship, workspace and creative uses, charitable occupation or traditional security, we always place social impact at the heart of everything we do, whilst providing our clients with the most cost-effective solution to leaving a building vacant.”
See that? “Cost-effective”.
Lowe Group appear to be very careful at screening their tenants, or “licensees”, who have to be over 21, in employment and “strictly professional”. The rent includes all bills though not wifi. And there’s a “no parties” rule, too…
Let’s hope that deters the Conservatives, Labour and the other lot, too.
Read more: Council’s once-prized listed building Heathfield House left to rot
Read more: Public outcry as council tries to off-load historic Heathfield House
Read more: Riesco objections: Croydon Council’s squandering our heritage
Read more: Council’s botched attempt to airbrush Riesco from web history
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How many people per bathroom I wonder…
The morning rush for a shower could be interesting…
I’ve done training in that building back in around 2017 and it was cold and run down even then. I actually don’t have an issue with the building being used to provide much-needed housing but don’t know how that works with the covenant. Unfortunately the covenant means the building is a bit of a financial sinkhole, the same would be true if it was in another borough. The owner had good intentions but not sure if the covenant is fit for the modern world, not sure what the answer is but I hope a long-term use can be found.
We’re a local arts charity who were willing to use and protect the building within the covenant at nil cost to the council, and had funding in place for R&D to find a long-term viable use for the building whilst keeping it open to the public. There’s even precedent for what we wanted to do at nearby Beckenham Place Mansion. None of this was enough for Croydon Council. The reasoning we got from was that guardians would be easier to evict.
Have they got planning permission for a residential use?
There’s also HMO – Home of Multiple Occupation – licence requirements, and fire safety certificates and inspections from the LFB.
Am absolutely certain that Croydon Council will have done all the necessary paperwork in advance, of course.
Who’s putting in the FoI request?
I am one of the licensees at Heathfield and love it! There is a bit of a “gentleman’s agreement” for bathroom use, household chores are shared and I’m paying less than 50% current Croydon rental rates. Lowe is very good with communication and maintenance requests.
Thanks for getting back to us… and on this occasion, we will waive our usual “no anonymous comments” rule for very good reason.
Are you able to advise on what you make of the internal conversion work that has been done to accommodate you and your neighbours?
Have the repairs needed to the outside of the building, and the leaky roof, all been fixed?
Is the place and gardens now all locked off to the public?
Only the house is private, all grounds are open to the public. There are no roof leaks that I’m aware of and the remodeling works are a good standard. All new showers in the bathrooms, new cooker and washing machine in each kitchen. All fire code requirements are fully compliant
“I am one of the licensees of Heathfield and I love it!”
When the building was being marketed by Croydon Council, the ceiling was caved in the first floor foyer was caved in and second floor cupboard due to a roof leak, windows in the central staircase were smashed, main ground floor room windows were smashed causing extensive damp and the floor ruined and lifting, the back central room had plaster collapsing away from the walls due to damp, the fire safety systems were trashed by squatters, Croydon Ecology Centre’s storage had also been trashed, and the preexisting self contained flat had extensive damp from a mystery source.
As a publicly owned building, will Lowe allow the public inside to inspect the works?
You would have to ask Lowe but I can confirm that none of these issues exist now
Unfortunately it’s likely that the rent is going straight to the guardianship company, while the council is also paying the company for their services in keeping the building ‘occupied’ – this is the most common format for guardianships but hopefully an FoI will tell.
Turf had been proposing using and protecting the building at nil cost to the council for nearly as long as it had been vacant.
The council could have opted to give the building for use by local artists and community in the months following Borough of Culture, but instead they opted to hand it to a guardianship company, effectively because they’re easier to evict.
I suppose I can just about tolerate this temporary measure, on the one condition, that all the money is going directly back into maintaining the property and grounds whilst they look for better solutions (which I’m sure they aren’t doing).
It was a lovely little spot that was generously donated to the people of Croydon.
I visit from time to time, the Council couldn’t even be bothered to maintain the little rose garden, that’s all grassed over now.
Make the place immaculate again, open up the Ecology Centre more and make more out of the concept, maybe if something like that was supported more then the whole site could been used like some kind of ecology, gardening, self-sufficiency and education hub.
I think people that have gardens should be encouraged to grow fruit and veg and have trees, bee friendly flowers and support nature, particularly in cities. I’m thinking it could probably be a nice spot for a Farmer’s Market. Get the fountain up and running, fix the little bridge, maybe open a little cafe, make the place worth visiting again, don’t let it get brambled over like the Council are increasingly allowing to happen with Coombe Wood.
I must have hundreds of photos, taken at any time of the year, of the place, it is one of my favourite spots! It really is one of the most fabulous viewpoints in the borough, IMO anyway.
It saddens me to see it going to pieces, and I certainly hope we won’t have to look back in regret one day, lamenting the loss of yet another lovely, local building.
As my son and myself are in need of housing and the private sector is so expensive. Can myself and my son rent 2 rooms ?
Only if you meet the agency’s conditions: both over 21, both in employment in “professional” roles… There may be more.
I see that the property is now on the market for sale. I thought the property was bequeathed to the Council for the benefit of the public!?
Common misconception, since the Riesco collection of ceramics were left to the people of Croydon. Which didn’t stop Croydon’s Tories, including Jason Perry, flogging off a large part of the collection at a dubiously low valuation…
Heathfield House was sold by Raymond Riesco to the then Croydon Corporation.
I am the grandson of Mr and Mrs Riesco and lived at Heathfield for the greater part of the first 25 years of my life. It is so sad to see the house in its current poor state and the gardens derelict.