CROYDON IN CRISIS: The conversion of a council-owned, listed Victorian villa on Gravel Hill into a ‘house of multiple occupation’ was done without any licence application and without planning permission.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Sorry state: Heathfield House, photographed last year, showing the signs of decades of neglect from owners, Croydon Council
Heathfield House, the council-owned listed building at the top of Gravel Hill, which has been adapted to provide rooms for 17 “guardian” tenants, does not have a valid licence to be used as an HMO, or house of multiple occupation, an Inside Croydon investigation has discovered.
Croydon Council is the relevant licensing authority for HMOs in the borough.
The council today confirmed the lack of any licence for Heathfield House in a Freedom of Information response.
“Whilst the council has been contacted in relation to a mandatory houses in multiple occupation licence,” a council official wrote, “an application has not been received.”
It might strike some as extraordinary that the licensing authority allows a valuable and heritage property it owns to be converted into HMO use without a valid licence, whether that was sought by the council itself, or the agents operating the property.
Earlier this year, the council, after failing to find an acceptable tenant to take on the Victorian villa, came to a commercial arrangement with “innovative” housing agents, the Lowe Group.
Since June, Lowe have been marketing Heathfield House, room by room, to “key workers, young workers and artists”. These tenants, each paying around £650 per month in rent for a single room with shared toilet, shower and kitchen facilities, are effectively acting as “guardians” of the property, to prevent any further incursions by squatters.
A detailed search of the council’s planning portal has been unable to find any planning application submitted to make the alterations to provide these 17 apartments in Heathfield House, as might have been expected, and as is required… by Croydon Council.
Grade II-listed Heathfield House, built in 1837, and its once admired ornamental gardens, standing in prime position in the Addington Hills with sweeping views across farmland towards New Addington, was once the home of millionaire philanthropist Raymond Riesco.
Squatted: Heathfield House’s ‘visitors’ left their mark on the walls of the old building
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.
It seems unlikely that the current HMO use fulfils any of the legal requirements of Riesco’s covenant.
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”.
According to Croydon Council’s own website, “A house in multiple occupation (HMO) is a property where at least three tenants live and share facilities like bathrooms, kitchens, or toilets.”
According to the council: “HMOs in Croydon must meet certain standards and requirements.”
The council lists its requirements for a legally registered HMO. These include:
- Planning permission: Planning permission is required to convert small properties into HMOs. However, if the property has already been used as an HMO, or if the owner can demonstrate that it has, then no further planning consent is needed.
- Licensing: HMOs require a separate license [sic] for each property. The license [sic] is valid for five years and comes with restrictions and obligations for the license [sic] holder and others involved.
- Space standards: There are space standards for HMOs, including a minimum ceiling height of 2.3 meters [sic] and no more than two people sleeping in one bedroom.
- Amenities: HMOs must have adequate amenities, including kitchens and bathrooms.
- Management: HMOs must be properly managed.
- Written statement: A written statement of the terms of occupation must be provided to all occupiers.
Lowe’s marketing materials never refer to Heathfield House, but call the property “Coombe Lane”.
Croydon’s cash-strapped council is in a bit of a bind with Heathfield House, which successive administrations had ignored for decades, leaving it in an increasingly ramshackle condition.
Residents, or “licensees”, as Lowe calls them, who have been in touch with Inside Croydon, have had nothing but praise for their low-cost accommodation.
But some who had a viewing of the building before it was re-purposed to provide the homes have a different version of the state of the place, disrepair caused by prolonged neglect by the council and the break-in by squatters.
“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,” an official for a local charity told Inside Croydon.
“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 pre-existing self-contained flat had extensive damp from a mystery source.”
Historic England is the government agency responsible for keeping a check on listed buildings.
An Historic England spokesperson has confirmed to Inside Croydon that Heathfield House is not on its “heritage at risk” register (at least, not yet).
And while they had had what they call “an update” from the council about the building’s new uses in 2022, the spokesperson said: “We have not been consulted [by Croydon Council] on any listed building consent or planning applications since 2016.”
Read more: Long-neglected Heathfield House being rented out as 17 rooms
Read more: Council’s once-prized listed building Heathfield House left to rot
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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