Praise from Mayor Perry for a 28-storey tower in the town centre that his own council’s planners tried to block for being too tall
Coming soon: the plans for the 28-storey tower have been around for three years – first blocked by Croydon planners, now the site’s been bought by Cheyne
Property speculators Cheyne Capital say they are going ahead with a scheme that will build hundreds of flats on the site of City Link House, after pulling of a major property deal in Croydon town centre.
The vacant office block site opposite East Croydon Station has been bought for £210million – according to sources in the housing sector, at the top-end of its price range.
The site has planning permission for 485 “co-living units” and 84 affordable homes in a 28-storey tower and 14-storey block.
Jason Perry, Croydon’s Tory Mayor, claims to see this as a good thing, describing it as “fantastic”.
What Perry failed to mention was that his own council’s planners had originally vetoed the proposed tower on the grounds that it would dwarf and overshadow the landmark No1 Croydon building on the other side of Addiscombe Road.
The original developers, Wittington Investments, won their case on appeal to the Planning Inspector.
Today part-time Perry, who is also a director of the Croydon Business Improvement District, said, “Positive step forward in providing new housing options, creating jobs and enhancing local amenities.”
And he added, “I look forward to the positive impact this will have on our community.”
Perry is seeing profit-hungry private developers laughing all the way to the bank, as he waves through hundreds of new private flats – with thousands more to come if Westfield ever actually do start work on the Whitgift Centre site.
It is hard to be certain whether Perry has amnesia about his planning department’s negative view of this scheme, or whether he is simply displaying Newmanesque levels of hyposcrisy. Either way, in the middle of a housing crisis that is sending Perry’s council spiralling into yet another financial crisis, the hundreds of flats in a private development at East Croydon are unlikely to do anything to reduce Croydon’s council housing waiting list.
In the two full years before Mayor Perry took charge of the at the Town Hall, according to figures provided by the authority, Croydon delivered 204 new council homes at social rent.
In the two years since Perry has been in charge, 2023 and 2024, Croydon delivered just 29 new council homes, thereby helping to create a demand for over-priced rabbit hutch “apartments”.
According to a release from Cheyne Capital, their tall residential tower block will include a gym and “wellness suite”, a cinema, games room and recording studio.
The small flats will include en suite bathrooms and kitchenette, but residents will share kitchens and other communal spaces in the building.
Matt Floyd, at Cheyne Real Estate, said: “We are proud to support a project which can play a role in furthering the regeneration of Croydon, and will contribute to its vibrant business and living community.”
Get that: “furthering the regeneration of Croydon”.
“This project reflects Cheyne Capital’s continued commitment to the UK flexible-living sector.” Ahhh, that well-known “commitment to the UK flexible-living sector”.
Cheyne have previously been involved with Ark Canary Wharf and Taxi House in central London.
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Great news – for merchants of plastic for the building industry. No wonder Perry is so keen
I wonder how much Cheyne Capital bunged the head of planning at Croydon Council? Because something isn’t right, I mean wtf is the point of planning in the first place?
Where is the infrastructure for all these people. Croydon Hospital is already a third world war zone. No dentists no leisure facilities no shops in fact the whole of the town centre has nothing going for it and unsafe so hardly anyone goes thete now
I don’t understand the negativity. Not everyone is on the council’s waiting list, there is a shortage of private homes too – which is why costs are so high (and the list so long). I’d much rather it be put to use as flats for commuters than left to rot as another abandoned construction site blighting the town center.
It isn’t a bad thing if someone makes money building stuff we need, that’s the basis of capitalism. A lack of profitability is why sites like St George’s Walk stalled and are now derelict, that’s basically the worst case scenario for the town.
A spatially challenged, one-bed flat for, say, £300,000-plus though? And meanwhile there’s no proper upgrade of public infrastructure. GP surgeries? Dentists (have you tried getting an appointment)?
This isn’t “planning”, this is an abrogation of responsibility by our local authority, as property speculators fill their boots – though only if they manage to fill their flats.
On another point, jamessuperfun@gmail.com: our site’s rule on comments is quite simple. If you want to express an opinion, we expect you to put your name to it. Comments made anonymously are usually deleted.
No doctors, no parking, schools under pressure, GPs with closed lists, do I need to go on? Development needs to be holistic.
Sadly a lack of infrastructure and holisticness doesn’t seem to come into the planning system
I’d be interested to know where the demand for all these new flats in Central Croydon is coming from ? What we certainly don’t want is for too many of them -or indeed any of them-to fall into the hands of private sector slum landlords.
Central Croydon’s already on its knees and what it needs is a stable community-either owner-occupiers and/or social tenants -to help stop it slipping any further.
Housing has to be somewhere. Personally I think it’s a good idea to build it near public transport, especially such a good hub as East Croydon. (And yes, I do live nearby.)
Yes Housing does have to be somewhere. You state that placing huge amounts of development in a concentrated location is a good idea and you live close by. Have you considered the possibility of what happens if this scheme being developed simultaneously with the No.1 Croydon site across the road and many others in the local vicinity lead to an over supply of the same form of development in a concentrated location. Don’t say you were never warned, but no doubt you will able to up sticks when the manifest problems occur.
What about peiple who need council homes
How many of the hundreds of flats built in Croydon recently are empty and unused?