After 15 years, two large-scale planning applications, a planning inquiry and a CPO, Croydon’s biggest landowners have today announced that they have sold off a large chunk of their property in the benighted town centre in the hope that it might accelerate the promised £1billion regeneration.
By STEVEN DOWNES
Changing hands: Westfield – now Paris-based URW – is buying the Whitgift Centre for £31.5m
Shopping mall developers Westfield – now trading as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, and based in Paris – have bought the Whitgift Centre, those parts of the Allders site that they don’t already own, plus other property near West Croydon Station from Croydon’s biggest landowners, the Whitgift Foundation, in a deal valued at £31.5million.
Sources within the Foundation deny that the sale comes after they, as landlords, have been squeezed by their development “partners” over many years, watching their income from their properties gradually decline.
Westfield were the only potential buyers, and they moved to secure the deal to help them deliver the outline proposals contained within a “masterplan” that has the approval of Croydon Council, the local planning authority, for up to 3,000 homes in a mixed-use scheme across the Whitgift and Centrale shopping centres and the surrounding retail area.
In 2023, Westfield snaffled up Hammerson’s 50% stake in the “Croydon Partnership” for a fraction of what their developer rivals had paid for Centrale. Today’s deal completes the property acquisition of Croydon town centre, while providing a stark illustration of the fall in value of commercial and retail property. Fifteen years ago, the Centrale centre was sold for £98million.
URW had a long lease on the Whitgift Centre, where they have become controversial landlords, exercising break clauses on tenant businesses’ leases as unit by unit is vacated. Last year, URW opened six “kiosks” along North End, on the ground floor of the Allders building. Meanwhile, five times as many businesses – including the likes of high street favourites Accessorize, Monsoon and Super Dry – have joined a depressing exodus from the near-empty Whitgift Centre.
URW was supposed to deliver its latest planning application, the third in 15 years, by the end of 2024. That application has yet to be submitted, although the developers did conduct another public consultation earlier this year. It was reckoned to be the sixth consultation over the redevelopment of the town centre since 2011.
Empty mall: the almost deserted Whitgift Centre has gained fame as the location for a Taylor Swift music video
In a statement issued this morning about the sale of the Whitgift Centre, the Whitgift Foundation said: “Sixty years ago, the land was home to Trinity School, which then moved to Shirley Park.
“For many decades, income from the shopping centre site has helped fund bursaries for children to attend the Foundation’s schools who otherwise could not afford to do so. The income also supported the provision of almshouses in the town centre. This will continue following the sale, as the Foundation consolidates its endowment investments.”
In 2022, the Whitgift Foundation’s property income dropped to £1.2million. The following year, the then governors of the registered charity announced that they were to close the 900-pupil Old Palace girls’ independent school.
So the sale of the declining Whitgift Centre shopping mall will be seen in some quarters as an almost inevitable “correction”, after years of rental decline and the stalled property development.
URW’s Adam Smith told Inside Croydon that the purchase “further simplifies the ownership of the Whitgift Centre and Allders site”.
‘Beating heart of south London’: URW’s Adam Smith
Smith said: “The next steps are to lodge a strategic planning application for the site and to work collaboratively with Croydon Council and other local stakeholders on improvements to North End and the immediate area.
“This site holds strong potential to unlock Croydon as the beating heart of south London.”
And that has been the schtick since 2011, when in the wake of the Croydon riots, Boris Johnson, when Mayor of London, and Gavin Barwell, then the local MP, backed by the Tory-run local council, brokered the shotgun-marriage of Croydon’s two shopping malls, promising a £1billion development that was still closely aligned to high street retail, despite more than a decade’s evidence of the march on online shopping. Where are those two now..?
Recent, post-covid, years have seen the Foundation’s annual rents from their commercial properties fall by more than half, from a peak of £5.9million in 2017 to £2.1million for 2025, the most recent year that figures are publicly available.
The sale, the Foundation said today, will “enable it to focus on its core charitable aims of education and care, and to support the ongoing redevelopment of the town centre”.
The properties being sold comprise the Whitgift Centre, Green Park House at West Croydon, as well as those parts of Allders not already owned by URW.
URW will make the purchase payment over the next five years.
The Whitgift Foundation operates the historic town centre almshouses, next to Allders, as well as two care homes and two large independent schools, Trinity and Whitgift.
Roisha Hughes has been chief executive of the Whitgift Foundation since early 2025, and she did much of the heavy lifting to secure the sale to Westfield.
Deal-maker: Roisha Hughes, CEO of the Whitgift Foundation
She told Inside Croydon: “As an education and care charity, it’s right that we focus on our schools, almshouses and care provision.
“Following URW’s offer to buy the land, which they already lease from us, we have carefully considered what is best for the charity and the town. Simplifying the land ownership in the town centre will positively facilitate the town centre’s regeneration.
“We are confident that the sale will put the Foundation in a very solid position to deliver its core purpose in the decades ahead. Proceeds from the sale will be invested, and the income that is generated will continue to fund our charitable objectives, principally our bursary programme.”
Because of the Foundation’s charity status, the sale had to undergo some external checks and approvals. Work on the sale agreement began last October, and has the approval of the Whitgift Foundation’s Court of Governors, some of whom are appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“We have tested every aspect of the proposal – strategic, financial and community impact – to ensure it is firmly aligned with the Foundation’s long-term charitable purpose,” said Fiona Fletcher-Smith, the chair of the Court of Governors.
“This is a significant moment for the Foundation. It enables us to strengthen our financial resilience.
“At the same time, we recognise the importance of this site to Croydon’s future. By simplifying ownership and enabling progress on regeneration, we believe this decision supports the long-term vitality of the town as well as the sustainability of the Foundation’s work.
“We are confident that this is the right and responsible course of action, for the Foundation, for those we serve and for the wider community.”
Croydon’s failed Mayor, Jason Perry, was not approached for comment because, quite frankly, he has nothing to do with the property sale, however much he’s likely to try to claim the credit.
Read more: Charity lost £2m last year over closure of Old Palace School
Read more: Crumbling finances see troubled Foundation lose millions more
Read more: Planning application for Westfield scheme stalled to mid-2026
Read more: Westfield boss says Croydon scheme could take 15 more years
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