Residents of an East Croydon council estate are being urged to help the council-owned developers transform its old garage site into community-led homes. 

Brick by Brick – set up by Croydon Council – is asking locals to help develop 10-15 community-led homes on the Shrublands Estate. The estate was built on top of a golf course after the Second World War.

Under the scheme, local residents will propose their ideas to the council. The residents with the winning idea will assist in managing and designing the homes. 

Residents have been invited to raise issues and questions to decide if they want to propose a development idea to the council. Councillors, MPs, local businesses and associated groups are also invited to join the discussion at the conference. 

Shrublands Estate is the second nominated location for the development, after Crystal Palace Community Land Trust (CLT) developed low-carbon affordable homes at The Lawns, Upper Norwood, in August last year. 

If plans go ahead, Shrublands’ community-led homes will contribute towards the 32,890 new homes aimed to be built in Croydon by 2036, according to The Croydon Local Plan 2018. 

Not all locals are happy with the council’s plans, Marzia, a trustee of the Shirley Community Centre Association, said: “Some of the blocks [homes] should be demolished and rebuilt before they think of new things, or new buildings and new planning… a lot can be done to improve the existing buildings.”

“I don’t know how residents are going to live, because cars are already everywhere, buses cannot go through, there’s only one ‘198’. At the top of Shrublands Avenue, where they want to build, there are springs underneath and sometimes where there’s heavy rain you have got to go there with wellington boots.”

“The Shrublands Estate could be a beautiful estate.”