Shutting up shop: the gates to 37 Tamworth Road, locked to all its tenants on Friday morning
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Some of failed Mayor Perry’s biggest fans had a rude awakening on Friday morning when the council sent in bailiffs and locked them out of their civic-owned building. The tenants claim they have no idea why. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Bolt cutters: bailiffs left Praise House’s padlock as a souvenir of their visit
And so it begins.
Less than 24 hours after the announcement that Commissioners had been appointed to try to fix Croydon’s systemic problems, and Conservative supporters and apologists for failed Mayor Jason Perry were putting it around that various groups had been locked out of their council-owned premises because of… the Commissioners.
Damian Luke is the pastor of the Praise House evangelical church based in a large Victorian building at 37 Tamworth Road in West Croydon. His church has a lease on the council-owned premises, which he also sub-lets to other community groups.
What Pastor Luke failed to mention in his urgent distress signals to his various sub-tenants on Friday morning is that the locks had been changed on the entrance to the premises by bailiffs working under a High Court order.
Such legal repossession orders usually take at least a week to be processed, so this was no overnight operation. High Court orders are often used when a landlord, such as Croydon Council, has not been receiving the rent from their tenant.
The bailiffs’ move had come as a complete shock to Luke.
The pastor contacted his 20 or so sub-tenants, who include other church groups, a nursery, health practitioners, a “combat academy” and a music school, to let them know the dire news.
“I am saddened to inform you that upon arrival this morning at 37 Tamworth Road, we noticed that the entire building has been locked up by an enforcement agent appointed by Croydon Council,” Luke wrote.
By “noticed”, Luke meant that someone had taken bolt cutters to his padlock on the gates and replaced it with their own, industrial-strength chain and locks. Enforcement letters had been taped to the gates.
Saddened: Pastor Damian Luke, one of Mayor Perry’s biggest fans
“The agents on site cannot give us any information on the reason this action has been taken… No one is allowed into the building until this matter has been resolved.
“I sincerely regret the inconveniences this matter has caused, especially as you are not able to carry out your work or hold meetings in the premises whilst this enforcement is in place but be assured that I will be the first caller at the Council offices at 9am to seek a solution to this matter.”
The council’s property portfolio includes a wide range of public buildings, many of which have been leased out to charities, third-sector organisations and religious groups, in an outsourcing of the buildings’ management.
Even five years after the Town Hall’s financial collapse, with debts of £1.4billion and external advisers instructing council officials to “sell everything”, Croydon’s property holdings remain extensive.
While one or two notable sites, such as the Croydon Park Hotel, had managed to be sold off, though for millions below their true market value, many other assets remain owned by Croydon’s cash-strapped council, often rented out on very long leases to some community groups.
Impressive: 37 Tamworth Road, used by Praise House, is one of around 20 council-owned properties that are leased out to community groups
There are 20-or-so community centres listed as “spaces for hire” on the council’s website.
These include the Fieldway Community Centre in New Addington, the Sir Philip Game Centre, Socco Cheta in South Norwood, the Coulsdon Community Centre and Selsdon Community Hall.
And 37 Tamworth Road.
After his early morning rude awakening, Pastor Luke must have toddled off to Fisher’s Folly because later on Friday, he sent an update to his sub-tenants.
“I have now spoken to officers in Croydon who have informed me that as a result of the appointment of Commissioners to take control of Croydon, a lot of last-minute decisions have been made especially in the last week.
“This has meant previous arrangements that were in place are not being honoured.” If true, that could mean multiple breaches of contract by the council. Surely that could not be the case?
Luke maintained that he had no advance notice of the repossession order for 37 Tamworth Road. He was expecting a meeting with council officials on Friday afternoon.
A couple of things had happened in and around Croydon Council in the previous month which Luke did not mention in his frantic messages to his sub-tenants.
The first was the abrupt exit from Fisher’s Folly just a week earlier of Huw Rhys Lewis BSc, BArch, MSc, MRIBA, MAPM, MRICS, the “interim director of commercial investment and capital” – the man who for nearly two years had been ultimately responsible for selling the borough’s property assets.
Lewis’s hurried departure was said by council sources to be linked to his £1,000 a day fees as an interim. Could the High Court order on Tamworth Road have been Lewis’s parting gestures to the people of Croydon?
The second significant matter of note in connection with Praise House will have been Pastor Luke’s own intervention on behalf of Mayor Perry, presenting a case to Whitehall against the appointment of Commissioners in Croydon.
Luke, using the Tabernacle of Praise headed notepaper, was among 35 representations received by local government minister Jim McMahon in response to his “minded to” Commissioners announcement in June.
Luke’s letter often sounds as if he is actually accountable to a higher authority: Jason Perry.
Luke begins by claiming that he writes on behalf of his church and “indeed the wider network of Churches and Faith Communities in Croydon” as “valued partners”.
None of this would be anything to do, of course, with Luke paying “mates’ rates” rent on 37 Tamworth Road.
Pleading to a high authority: Pastor Damian Luke’s letter to the minister, written on behalf of Mayor Jason Perry. Or maybe even written by Mayor Perry
Perhaps with some divine intervention, the minister (of god) wrote to the minister (of the government) saying that he had “witnessed Croydon Council’s ongoing commitment to community engagement, transparent operations and continuous improvement”. Seriously.
“Croydon Council has taken significant steps to address past challenges and implement a comprehensive programme of reform and renewal,” Luke said in his letter. It is not known whether this was submitted when under solemn oath.
“These efforts include the adoption of a new governance model, strengthened financial controls, improved scrutiny functions, and an unwavering focus on delivering better outcomes for residents.” Now apart from that being complete and utter bollocks (as Luke discovered for himself on Friday morning), is there just a glimmer of a chance the wording was suggested for him by someone close to Mayor Perry’s office?
“We can unequivocally report…”, unequivocally, no less! “… that through our partnership with the council, they have demonstrated clear accountability and an openness to external review and support… While there is still work to be done, the council’s trajectory is one of meaningful and measurable progress.” It begins to read as if Luke’s unholy ghostwriter might have been Mayor Perry’s under-fire chief executive, Katherine Kerswell.
And so, according to Pastor Luke, the Tamworth Road site having its locks changed on Friday morning is all down to those nasty Commissioners.
Clear message: the bailiffs’ letters plastered across the entrance to the Tamworth Road building
The notices plastered by Wilson and Roe, authorised High Court enforcement officers, over the entry ways to the Tamworth Road building, under Section 12(3) of the Torts Act 1977, served as a warning for the building’s tenants and sub-tenants to arrange to collect their possessions by August 1.
“Any attempt by you or your agents to enter these premises will result in criminal or civil proceedings being taken against you,” the letter warns.
By this morning, Luke and all his sub-tenants were still locked out.
The pastor said that he had submitted “the information that was requested of us” to the council last night, “and I have already received an acknowledgement that it is being dealt with”.
Luke has at no point stated that he received any advance notification of High Court action being taken by the council for the recovery of the building.
“The plan remains to open the building so all can start operating again from the premises,” Pastor Luke wrote to his sub-tenants this morning.
Inside Croydon contacted Damian Luke over the weekend, asking whether the High Court bailiff repossession action was in any way connected with rent to the council that had not been paid.
We have received no reply.
Read more: Meet the Commissioners: council experts sent to save Croydon
Read more: Panicked Perry admitted to Rayner: I can’t balance the budget
Read more: ‘The government was left with no choice’ over Commissioners
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I presume that this is another Mayoral support operation (like PR fluff about the recent works in South Norwood Lake and another park, that ignore the real priorities), to prove that he’s brilliant and deserves to carry on in the role. Does anyone know why we’re paying a executive mayor if commissioners are running the council?
Don’t think it is as described, Dave.
The council’s said nowt about it, possibly because of the risk of embarrassment to the Mayor and Croydon Tories if, as seems possible, one of their biggest fans has been getting a massive freebie at public expense.
Of course, it might just turn out to be a massive mistake, like when Huwie Lewis put Heathfield House up for auction for a mere £1million.
Just a thought? Is Hughie (Huey) still with – or in – the news?
It’s Huwy.
It’s the Power of Love. Actually
or it could be they owe megabucks in rent ?
Ah ha! The whole thing smells to high heaven (sorry). The Tabernacle’s accounts show a catastrophic fall in income over the last four years. Down from £140k a year to something around £80k. All this stuff about Perry, The Minister and the Commissars is just piss and wind
Top Links Connect Ltd is one of the companies that Luke Damian is involved with. Based at Praise House in 37 Tamworth Road, it is in the business of the general cleaning of buildings, combined office administrative service activities, “other business support service activities” and educational support services.
The 2023-24 accounts are over seven months overdue at the government’s Companies House, while the confirmation statement is over a year overdue. The latter is important because it ensures compliance with regulations, provides transparency, and helps maintain trust among stakeholders by confirming that records are accurate and up-to-date.
Topcare Network, another such company, is under threat of compulsory strike-off. Its confirmation statement was due on 20th February 2025.
There are 17 other active companies and 11 charities with a registered office address at 37 Tamworth Road. Hopefully this whole mess can be cleared up quickly
Is this a new innovation by Mayor Perry? Get Council leasehold tenants to write letters of support in lieu of rent. Like most of his ideas it doesn’t seemed to have worked again.
So the Pastor didn’t know what was going on. He sounds just like the man that Mayor Perry has been missing from his cabinet. With him on board they could then finally be classified as completely clueless.
The beautiful building and the land it sits on must be worth £15m easily. Hopefully they don’t knock it down for social housing flats.
Genuine social housing is what is desperately needed, by the homeless and for the council’s finances.
Surely the real scandal here is the sudden demise of 20 community groups and hundreds of local people losing their shared resource overnight. The evidence to date suggests a hasty and ill thought through decision by someone at the council and a failure of communication.
It really isn’t that uncommon for the council to charge peppercorn rents nor for community figures to flatter their benefactors however misguidedly.
I hope this isn’t indicative of how other asset disposals will be managed under the government commissioners.
Perhaps the scandal is the 20 community groups paying for their sub-lets, but the lead tenant perhaps not making the rental payments to the landlord, the council.
High Court repossession orders don’t appear overnight.
This repossession has nothing to do with the Commissioners. They were only appointed less than 24 hours before the order was actioned. The High Court never works at that speed
Even peppercorn / de minimis rents need to be paid.
Not that councils can afford to rent property on the cheap these days
Appearing on Can’t Pay We’ll Take It Away once is a misfortune. Twice is carelessness.
Uh?
Croydon Council were definitely on one of those Bailiffs programmes before. Can’t remember which one, but two men turned up in Fishers Folly reception threatening to take goods away and the receptionist had to get someone to come down with a personal credit card. Great TV.
Whilst the heavies waited they played “translate the Council’s Latin motto on their coat of arms” and one of them got it right. Priceless… Wish I could remember the episode… It was comedy gold.
When this same thing happened overnight at another council property, Davis House, it turned out that the person subletting hadn’t actually been passing on that rent to the council at all for years.
Now I’m not saying that’s the case here. But for something like this to happen again, especially for such staunch supporters of the big P, it would be quite awkward for the Mayor if it were to be the case.