Living in Croydon: area guide to homes, schools and transport

With brilliant Boxpark for food and gigs, thousands of new flats and Westfield on the way, this town’s shapeshifting again.
Anthea Masey30 March 2017

Reinvention is the name of the game in the south London town of Croydon. The Sixties saw a highway lined with office blocks run through the town centre, the arrival of the Whitgift Centre shopping mall and the opening of a major cultural centre, the Fairfield Halls.

Tramlink, opened in 2000, remains the only tram service in the South-East. Now Croydon is shapeshifting again, with a £5.25 billion regeneration bringing thousands of new flats including some of the country’s tallest residential towers — the 43-storey sparkling pink-and-purple Saffron Square tower is now a new local landmark.

As the town awaits its long-promised £1.4 billion Westfield mall, which will eventually transform the Whitgift and Centrale shopping centres, the food, drinks and events destination that is Boxpark Croydon has arrived to enliven the town.

One of the most exciting developments Croydon has seen in years, it opened in October last year next door to East Croydon station with its superb fast central London trains.

Housed in 80 refashioned shipping containers and modelled on Boxpark Shoreditch, Boxpark Croydon is home to restaurants, bars and gigs in a pop-up that will eventually be demolished for the huge Ruskin Square regeneration scheme.

Until then, the residents of south London are able to eat their way around the world with food from Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Spain and the Caribbean, while they sit just nine miles south of central London.

The property scene: you'll find a huge variety of homes in Croydon, from large detached Victorian houses to two-bedroom cottages
Daniel Lynch

Estate agent Ashley Whitehouse, from the local branch of Foxtons, admits the town got a bad name after the riots of 2011, when one of the defining moments of those tense days was the sight of a woman leaping from her burning flat close to the blazing House of Reeves furniture store in West Croydon. However, he stresses there is no doubt that these are days of exciting change.

“Boxpark has transformed the town’s nightlife and with the eventual arrival of Westfield, residents are looking forward to having one of the best shopping centres in the South-East. “At the same time house hunters are getting over their phobia of the town and realising it has a great future and represents value for money, with many first-time buyers giving Croydon the thumbs up.”

Property scene

You'll find a huge variety of homes in Croydon, from large detached Victorian houses in South Croydon to two-bedroom Victorian cottages in West Croydon, to large detached Twenties, Thirties and later houses in Shirley Hills and on the Whitgift Estate off Addiscombe Road.

There are Thirties semis in Shirley and Wates-built Sixties and Seventies houses in the Park Hill Village area near East Croydon station, where there are also 21 much-admired Seventies houses by Swiss architects Atelier 5 in the St Bernard’s conservation area.

Croydon also has modern flats in some of the country’s tallest residential tower blocks.

What's new?

Thousands of new flats are either planned or under construction in Croydon. Developments where flats are currently for sale include Vita, a Places for People development of 161 homes in a nine-storey plinth block with a roof garden and a 22-storey tower block in Lansdowne Road.

It forms part of the Ruskin Square scheme to the west of East Croydon station, a mixed-use development which will eventually comprise five new office buildings and 650 new homes, along with shops and restaurants.

Flats at Vita are ready to move into and two-bedroom homes are priced from £424,000. For more information, visit vita-ruskinsquare.co.uk or call 020 8681 8132.

Fifteen Lansdowne is an office-to-residential development of 98 one- and two-bedroom flats, also in Lansdowne Road. Of the two-bedroom flats, 22 remain and prices start at £475,000.

The first residents have already moved in and the whole development is now ready. Through Foxtons New Homes — call 020 7973 2020.

Help to Buy is available at Island (island-croydon.com; 020 8680 0283); Morello (020 3811 5303); The Quarters (thequarterscroydon.co.uk; call Savills on 020 3320 8220); Impact House (020 8688 6552); Coombe Cross (also 020 8688 6552) and Penhurst Square (0333 577 0664) in Addiscombe.

Island is a Regency Homes development of 153 one- and two-bedroom flats and 11 penthouses including a 20-storey tower block in St James’s Road, West Croydon. The flats are move-in ready, and one-bedroom flats start at £350,000, with two-bedroom flats at £430,000. Call 020 8680 0283.

Morello is a joint venture between Redrow and Menta of 297 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and penthouses in four interconnected blocks in Cherry Orchard Road close to East Croydon station, due for completion by the end of the year. Off-plan sales start at £330,000. Call 020 3811 5303.

A later-stage Morello Tower is a 54-storey tower block designed by Make Architects. The Quarters is another office-to-residential conversion into 46 one- and two-bedroom flats in Wellesley Road, with prices starting at £350,000. Call Savills on 020 3320 8220.

Impact House is an office-to-residential conversion into one- and two-bedroom flats in Edridge Road by developer Inspired Homes. Prices start at £304,950 for a one-bedroom flat and £344,950 for a two-bedroom flat, for completion at the end of the year. Call Inspired Homes on 020 8688 6552.

From the same developer, Coombe Cross in South End, South Croydon is being converted into 90 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, with one-bedroom flats from £292,950; two-bedroom flats at £329,950 and three-bedroom flats from £625,000, for completion in the summer. Contact as before.

Penhurst Square is a Bellway development of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and four-bedroom houses in Grant Road, Addiscombe. Two-bedroom flats start at £374,995; three-bedroom flats at £428,995 and four-bedroom houses at £511,995. Call Bellway on 0333 577 0664

Family Mosaic has eight one-bedroom shared-ownership flats for sale in Lennard Road in West Croydon. Prices start at £84,000 for 30 per cent of a flat worth £280,000 with a deposit of £12,600. Monthly payments total £851 a month, comprising rent of £449, mortgage £264 and service charge £138. Call 020 7089 1315.

Staying power

The large houses in Shirley Hills and the Whitgift Estate are homes for life and rarely come to the market. Elsewhere, with Croydon once again reinventing itself only time will tell if the new crop of incomers will stay.

Postcode

CR0, the main Croydon postcode, covers the centre of Croydon and a large area extending as far as Selhurst, New Addington and Beddington. CR2 covers South Croydon, Selsdon and Sanderstead. CR9 is the Shirley postcode.

Best roads

Pine Coombe and Bishops Walk in Shirley Hills; any of the Whitgift Estate roads such as Fitzjames Avenue, Grimwade Avenue, Mapledale Avenue and Sandilands.

The Waldrons is a little-known conservation area between the town centre and Waddon near Duppas Hill with some fine early Victorian semi-detached villas.

Up and coming

Forestdale is an estate of Seventies houses arranged around culs-de-sac in Addington. The Lawdon Estate in Shirley is another Seventies estate of houses, this one built around communal courtyards.

Both are well designed but houses prices in both are held back by their isolation, although Forestdale is connected to the town centre by two tram stops.

Travel

Fast trains to Victoria and London Bridge from East Croydon take about 17 minutes, with trains to Blackfriars in about half an hour. The station also takes passengers to Gatwick in 15 minutes and Brighton in 50 minutes.

Victoria and London Bridge trains also run from South Croydon and West Croydon stations but these take between 25 and 35 minutes. West Croydon is on the Overground with trains to Shoreditch High Street, for the City, and Dalston Junction.

Tramlink runs through the centre of Croydon connecting it to New Addington, Beckenham Junction and Elmers End to the east and Wimbledon via Mitcham Junction to the west.

East, West and South Croydon are in Zone 5 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £2,208.

Council

Croydon is Labour controlled. Band D council tax for 2017/2018 is £1,558.93.

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants

The much-delayed arrival of Westfield is currently blighting the main shopping street along North End. First mooted in 2013, the glitzy shopping mall has experienced a number of delays the latest is a new planning application submitted last October.

The application proposes three levels of shopping rather than two, a new flagship M&S store and an increase in the number of new flats from between 400 and 600 to up to 1,000.

Joint developers Westfield and Hammerson hope to see the revised scheme through planning later this year with building starting almost immediately, and with the new Westfield opening in 2021.

Until then shoppers can still rely on two department stores – Debenhams and House of Fraser – and branches of M&S, Topshop, Primark, H&M, Zara and Next, along with many other high street brands. However, the West Croydon end of the shopping street is now looking distinctly tatty as it waits for Westfield.

Nearby historic Surrey Street Market is one of the oldest in the country, dating back to 1276.

South Croydon, along South End, is known as Croydon’s restaurant quarter. Find here: Albert’s Table, a French restaurant that gets a Michelin mention; Brasserie Vacherin is one of chef Malcolm John’s two French brasseries, the other is in Sutton; Ponte Nuova is a swish cocktail bar serving Italian food.

The best cafés are Matthews Yard off the High Street, a laid-back café which also has an art gallery, theatre, live music, art and design suites, and co-working space; Crushed Bean, an artisan coffee shop in High Street; and the Clocktower Café in Katharine Street.

Open space

The Queen’s Gardens in Park Lane is a town centre park with an ornamental garden and fountain.

Lloyd Park is Croydon’s largest park, with 114 acres, a café, outdoor gym, kids’ playground, a pond, bowling green and football pitches.

Leisure and the arts

Fairfield Halls arts, entertainment and conference centre is closed until next year for a £30 million refurbishment.

It is destined to sit at the centre of the council’s Fair Field masterplan, which aims to turn Croydon College, Fairfield Halls and the surrounding College Green area into one of London’s leading cultural and educational destinations.

The plans include 2,000 new homes, public spaces, a state-of-the-art college, an art gallery and shops and offices.

The Spread Eagle pub in Katharine Street has a fringe theatre upstairs. Waddon Leisure Centre in Purley Way houses the nearest council swimming pool.

Schools

Primary

The performance of Croydon’s state primary schools is patchy. The following are rated “outstanding” by Ofsted: Park Hill Infants (the junior school is rated “good”) in Stanhope Road; The Minster CofE in Warrington Road (the junior school is judged to “require improvement”; St Mary’s RC in Bedford Park; West Thornton in Rosecourt Road; Ridgeway in Southcote Road and St John’s CofE in Spring Park Road, Shirley.

New primary schools yet to be rated by the education watchdog are: Krishna Avanti, a Hindu school in Warrington Road; Chestnut Park in St James’s Road; Harris Primary Haling Park in Haling Road; Harris Primary Academy Purley Way in Propellor Crescent; Heathfield in Aberdeen Road, and Paxton in Brigstock Road in Thornton Heath.

Comprehensive

Croydon’s famous school is the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in The Crescent in Selhurst, part-funded by the British Phonographic Industry and with Adele, Amy Winehouse, Katy B, Jessie J and Katie Melua among its alumni.

The following state comprehensive schools, a sixth-form college and all-through school are judged “outstanding”: Harris Invictus (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in London Road; Harris Academy Purley (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Kendra Hall Road; Oasis (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Shirley Road, Shirley; Coloma RC (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Upper Shirley Road, Shirley and John Ruskin (co-ed, ages 16 to 18) in Selsdon Park Road. Wilson’s (boys, ages 11 to 18) in Mollison Drive is the local grammar school, also judged to be “outstanding”. Croydon College (co-ed, ages 16 to 18) and Archbishop Tenison’s CofE (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Selborne Road are both rated “good”.

Private

There are also private primary, preparatory schools, secondary schools and all-through schools. These are: Elmhurst (boys, ages three to 11) in South Park Hill Road; Maple House (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Parchmore Road, Thornton Heath; Cumnor House (boys, ages two to 13) in Pampisford Road in Purley; Cumnor House (girls, ages two to 11) in Woodcote Lane in Purley; The Cedar (boys, ages 11 to 18) in Coombe Road; Royal Russell (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Coombe Lane, and Croydon High (girls, ages three to 18) in Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon.

A major Croydon benefactor was John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1583 to 1604 and the three private schools run by the Whitgift Foundation, which describes itself as “passionate about Croydon for 400 years” are one of the main reasons families move to Croydon. They are: Whitgift (boys, ages 10 to 18) in Haling Park; Trinity (co-ed, ages 10 to 18) in Shirley Park and Old Palace (girls, ages three to 18) in Old Palace Road.