Category Archives: Housing
Planning control has got worse under developers’ friend Perry
STEVE WHITESIDE has compiled dossiers of evidence that show that nothing much has changed in the council planning department since 2022. In some cases, for the residents living next to some developments that have gone ahead, things have actually got … Continue reading
Stink from Arkwright Road flats smells of council failures
Jason Perry boasts that he halted the overdevelopment of parts of Croydon, caused by SPD2, the hugely unpopular ‘Suburban Design Guide. STEVE WHITESIDE has compiled dossiers of evidence that show that nothing much has changed in the council planning department … Continue reading
Council’s £68m write-off as Brick by Brick goes into liquidation
The housing company that borrowed £200m but never made a penny profit is finally to be closed down after a six-year winding-up process. By STEVEN DOWNES Brick by Brick, the council-owned housing company that bankrupted the borough, has gone into … Continue reading
Shared ownership makes Mosaic Place hard to piece together
Even before the latest global economic shock hit the construction trade, house-building in London had slowed to a crawl. JOHNNY DOBBYN looks at one scheme of more than 100 flats in Purley that provides a possible case study to show … Continue reading
Councillors wave through 676 flats with just 20% affordable
Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on the latest tall towers coming to the skyline of central Croydon Deep in the middle of a housing crisis, Croydon Council has broken its own rules by granting planning permission to a £200million housing scheme … Continue reading
Reed’s £2,400-a-seat cosy curry night with building lobbyists
BARRATT HOLMES reports on the Croydon Labour councillors who enjoyed a networking night out with the housing minister Steve Reed OBE, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North if he can ever be bothered), who has previously exhibited an appetite … Continue reading
Borough’s oldest charity in £4m South Croydon property sale
The borough’s oldest charity is selling 11 of the 12 houses it owns on one street in South Croydon in a £4million property disposal. The housing being sold off represents the bulk of Croydon Almshouses’ property portfolio, which comprises 16 … Continue reading
Red coats march on Delta Point to protest against evictions
On a visit to Croydon, the former housing secretary describes companies run by a billionaire Labour Party donor as ‘disgusting and disgraceful’, as hundreds of their tenants are served Section 21 eviction orders Angela Rayner, tipped as the next leader … Continue reading
Westfield consult public for 6th time and deliver more delays
Paris-based multi-bilion developers URW today begin another public consultation over the future of the town centre – Consultation No6 – which means that their latest planning application, already two years late, won’t see the light of day until long after … Continue reading
It was a bad deal for Croydon. Why did they allow it to happen?
CROYDON COMMENTARY: With Tory Mayor Jason Perry using £½million of public money as a hush fund, RICHARD HOWARD, pictured right, the LibDem mayoral candidate, lays out all the obvious flaws with the council’s Red Clover Gardens scheme Two years ago, … Continue reading
Mayor candidates call for investigation into Red Clover Gardens
LibDems and Greens say that only a thorough, deep dive into the council’s accounts and records conducted by an outside body – such as HM Revenue and Customs – can get to the bottom of the latest multi-million-pound financial scandal … Continue reading
Perry agrees to pay £½m to reclaim flats at Red Clover Gardens
Inside Croydon has obtained a top-secret, ‘Part B’ council report providing key financial details on the collapsed property deal for Red Clover Gardens – all because someone at Croydon’s cash-strapped and incompetent council posted it on their own website EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Tory council loses £20m over Coulsdon collapsed property deal
It is almost three years since this website warned that a ‘complicated, opaque lease-back arrangement’ conducted with a property firm with no real track record, for the disposal of blocks of flats at Red Clover Gardens, all looked just a … Continue reading
Perry has stabilised council finances in state of perpetual crisis
TV and radio politics pundit ANDREW FISHER, right, sat through three hours of false claims and spin at the Town Hall last night, as Croydon’s £87,000 per year lame duck Mayor still says he has done a decent job “I … Continue reading
£84,000 per year Tory Mayor approves his own pay rise
EXCLUSIVE: It’s trebles all-round for directors at Croydon’s cash-strapped council, as there’s a second generous pay rise in 12 months for council chiefs, while allowances paid to councillors are also to rise, and amount to £1.6m per year. Yet long-suffering … Continue reading
Perry begs for another £119m to balance his busted budget
Croydon’s Conservative Mayor, who has hiked Council Tax by 33% since 2023, still needs another £119m government bail-out to make his council budget balance. By STEVEN DOWNES Jason Perry, Croydon’s Conservative Mayor, has got his begging bowl out again to … Continue reading
TfL report confirms decade delay over Croydon’s new trams
South London’s transport network has slipped even further down the pecking order of the capital’s travel priorities, with no new line extensions mentioned in a five-year plan published today. EXCLUSIVE by JEREMY CLACKSON, transport correspondent It will be the 2030s … Continue reading
Minister Reed buckles under lobbying for ‘feudal’ landlords
BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent, on how an election promise to scrap ground rents for leaseholders has been watered down to something which now won’t take full effect until the year 2066 Groups representing leaseholders and renters have accused the Labour … Continue reading
‘If you think parks are protected, think again’ says CPRE report
Despite receiving £23m in grants for the up-keep of Croydon’s parks, only eight of the council’s 127 open spaces have Green Flag status. GIANELLA A BASILE looks over a new report which details more than 50 green spaces under threat … Continue reading
Council seizes 36 homes in crackdown against tenancy fraud
Croydon has seized possession of 36 council-owned homes in a massive crackdown on housing fraud in the borough. The council homes – desperately needed to provide housing for people on the council’s waiting list – were being occupied by people … Continue reading
Council finally completes sale of houses for Selhurst stand
In the first public update on Selhurst Park’s £200million main stand development for more than a year, Crystal Palace said today that they have finally completed the purchase of six houses on Wooderson Close – five of which have been … Continue reading
Sunday Times says Croydon is in UK’s Top 20 places to live
Don’t get too excited. The national newspaper’s praise for the south London town is, at best, grudging. By special correspondent, PHIL SPACE Croydon is one of the top 20 places in the country to live if you’re under 35. That’s … Continue reading
Build, baby! Build! 626 flats in Mitcham and none ‘affordable’
Housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, on a developer-friendly decision which might yet set the trend for all of London This is what you get when you “Build, baby! Build!” Merton Council has granted planning approval for 626 homes on the Mitcham … Continue reading
Property billionaire in £30m swoop for Apollo and Lunar House
Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on how Criterion Capital have scooped a cut-price bargain on two landmark Croydon buildings, as they plan to deliver the country’s largest office-to-resi development Croydon’s 1960s landmark buildings Apollo House and Lunar House have been sold … Continue reading
