Croydon to build hundreds of affordable homes till 2019

A photo of the view from Croydon from Croydon Council building - by Southeastern Star on East London Lines

Pic: Southeastern Star

Work has started on 821 affordable homes in the Borough of Croydon. This is London’s second biggest affordable housing project this year.

The Croydon New Build Program has started fixing and refurbishing 50 empty homes which will go into use as affordable housing. The homes are to be completed and ready to move into within the next 18 months, and will house around 2,000 people.

Croydon will also build 100 homes in 12 schemes across the borough between 2016-2019. The biggest developments will be built in Shirley (35 homes), Thorton Heath (20 homes) and Coulsdon (12 homes).

Veronica Clarke, an advisor for Share to Buy, one of the affordable housing associations working with Croydon Council, told ELL “We are very happy to be working with the Croydon Council to provide more affordable homes to this area. Roughly 10-40 affordable homes per year, are built in Croydon through such associations as ours, the fact that we can give the citizens 100 is amazing.

“Croydon is one of the areas which really needs affordable housing, families can either share the house’s ownership with a housing association for 50% of the price or have their own. The cheapest “affordable” homes around Croydon start at around £30,000 to £100,000 to buy any house through shared ownership and anything from £400 per month for renting a flat through a affordable housing association”

Sue Bennett, a local Conservative councilor from Shirley, which will benefit from 35 affordable homes, told ELL “Croydon is one of the many areas in London where poverty is very high. Many families cannot afford to pay for a home for their family. This program will help such people find homes by making them affordable to live in I think this program will be very good both for the poorest citizens of Croydon as they will no longer face difficulty in finding homes but it will also be good for Croydon as a borough. ”

Councillor Alison Butler, cabinet member for homes and regeneration told ELL: “We recognize that there is a housing crisis in London and that residents are finding it increasingly difficult to buy or rent. This new administration has pledged to deliver more affordable housing in Croydon, which is a major part of the regeneration we are set to see in the coming years.

“After our party secured Croydon, in May, we sat down and tried to figure out how to help Croydon as a Borough, since it has high rates of poverty and unemployment. We decided that Affordable Housing would be the best path. We will try to build as much “affordable” housing in Croydon as possible as the demand for it is very high.”

Fifteen of Croydon’s wards will have more affordable housing: Addiscombe -95, Broad Green – 158, Coulsdon East – 9, Coulsdon West – 56, Fairfield – 79, Kenley -33, Norbury – 1, Purley – 30, Selhurst – 52, South Norwood – 15, Throton Heath – 74, Upper Norwood – 114, Waddon – 51 West Throton – 51, Woodside – 3.

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