Ind Warehouse Land Assess Update

Final Report

London Borough of Croydon

Office, Industrial and Warehousing

Land/Premises Market Assessment

Prepared for:

London Borough

of Croydon

Prepared by:

URS Corporation

Limited

In association with:

Stiles Harold

Williams

August 2010

London Borough of Croydon

Office, Industrial and Warehousing Land/Premises Market Assessment

August 2010 Final Report Issue No 3 49353249

LB Croydon Office, Industrial and Warehousing Land/Premises Market Assessment Final Report

August 2010 Page iii

49353249

Project Title: London Borough of Croydon Office, Industrial and Warehousing Land/Premises Market Assessment

Report Title: Final Report

Project No: 49353249

Status: Final Report

Client Contact Name: Dominick Mennie

Client Company Name: London Borough of Croydon

Issued By: Gregory Openshaw

Document Production/Approval Record

Issue No: 3 Name Date Position

Prepared by Jon Howells 18th June 2010 Urban Planning Consultant

George Whalley 18th June 2010 Senior Regeneration Consultant

Prepared and checked by

Gregory Openshaw

9th August 2010

Senior Regeneration Consultant

& Project Manager

Reviewed by Anthony Batten 18

th June 2010

Quality Assurance

Approved by Rory Brooke 6

th July 2010

Project Director

Document Revision Record

Issue No Date Details of Revisions

1 18th June 2010 Draft Report

2 6th July 2010 Final Report

3 9th August 2010 Final Report (correction of typographical errors)


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LIMITATION

URS Corporation Limited (URS) has prepared this Report for the sole use of London Borough of Croydon Council in accordance

with the Agreement under which our services were performed. No other warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to the

professional advice included in this Report or any other services provided by us. This Report may not be relied upon by any

other party without the prior and express written agreement of URS. Unless otherwise stated in this Report, the assessments

made assume that the sites and facilities will continue to be used for their current purpose without significant change. The

conclusions and recommendations contained in this Report are based upon information provided by others and upon the

assumption that all relevant information has been provided by those parties from whom it has been requested. Information

obtained from third parties has not been independently verified by URS, unless otherwise stated in the Report.

Where field investigations have been carried out, these have been restricted to a level of detail required to achieve the stated

objectives of the services. The results of any measurements taken may vary spatially or with time and further confirmatory

measurements should be made after any significant delay in using this Report.


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CONTENTS

Section Page No

ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................................VIII

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................. IX

1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 21

1.1 Context and Purpose ..................................................................................................... 21 1.2 Study Area...................................................................................................................... 21 1.3 Report Structure ............................................................................................................. 22

2 APPROACH................................................................................................................... 25

2.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 25 2.2 Policy Context and Socio-economic Profile ................................................................... 25 2.3 Survey of Employment Sites and Premises................................................................... 26 2.4 Market Analysis .............................................................................................................. 31 2.5 Consultation ................................................................................................................... 31 2.6 Employment Land Forecast ........................................................................................... 31 2.7 Gap Analysis .................................................................................................................. 31 2.8 Consideration of Sites for Redevelopment .................................................................... 31 2.9 Conclusions and Recommendations.............................................................................. 32

3 POLICIES AND LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................... 33

3.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 33 3.2 National Policy................................................................................................................ 33 3.3 Regional Policy............................................................................................................... 36 3.4 Local Policy .................................................................................................................... 42 3.5 Summary........................................................................................................................ 50

4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 52

4.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 52 4.2 Population ...................................................................................................................... 52 4.3 Deprivation ..................................................................................................................... 53 4.4 Labour Market Structure ................................................................................................ 55 4.5 Company Size and Registration..................................................................................... 57 4.6 Industrial Structure ......................................................................................................... 58 4.7 Inward investment .......................................................................................................... 61 4.8 Home-working ................................................................................................................ 61 4.9 Summary........................................................................................................................ 63

5 QUALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT LAND – ‘LOCAL’ OFFICE AND INDUSTRIAL/WAREHOUSING ............................................................. 65

5.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 65 5.2 Employment Clusters ..................................................................................................... 65 5.3 Cluster Suitability for B1a Land-use............................................................................... 67


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CONTENTS

Section Page No

5.4 Cluster Suitability for Industrial Land-use ...................................................................... 71 5.5 Summary of Employment Clusters outside the CMC..................................................... 77

6 QUALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT LAND – CMC OFFICE CLUSTERS...................................................................................................... 79

6.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 79 6.2 CMC Clusters Surveyed................................................................................................. 79 6.3 Access to Public Transport ............................................................................................ 80 6.4 Access to Quality Facilities and Amenities .................................................................... 81 6.5 Quality of Environment and Building Stock.................................................................... 82 6.6 Physical or Planning Policy Constraints......................................................................... 84 6.7 Intensity of Existing Use................................................................................................. 85 6.8 Summary of CMC Clusters ............................................................................................ 87

7 MARKET ANALYSIS..................................................................................................... 89

7.1 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 89 7.2 CMC Market Overview ................................................................................................... 89 7.3 CMC Office Market and Comparator Centres................................................................ 91 7.4 CMC Demand Characteristics........................................................................................ 96 7.5 CMC Supply Characteristics ........................................................................................ 100 7.6 CMC Property Market Outlook ..................................................................................... 102 7.7 CMC Market Conclusions ............................................................................................ 103 7.8 Local Office, Industry and Warehousing Market Overview.......................................... 104 7.9 Local Office Market Demand and Supply Characteristics ........................................... 105 7.10 Local Office Market Outlook......................................................................................... 105 7.11 Local Industrial and Warehousing Market.................................................................... 106 7.12 Local Industrial Market Outlook.................................................................................... 110 7.13 Local Market Conclusions ............................................................................................ 111

8 CONSULTATIONS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS..................................................... 112

8.1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 112 8.2 Business Accommodation Demand and Supply .......................................................... 112 8.3 Labour Force Structure ................................................................................................ 113 8.4 LB Croydon as a Place to do Business........................................................................ 113 8.5 Economic Downturn ..................................................................................................... 114 8.6 Priorities for Policy........................................................................................................ 114

9 EMPLOYMENT LAND FORECASTING ..................................................................... 116

9.1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 116 9.2 Forecast Approach....................................................................................................... 116 9.3 Property Market Areas ................................................................................................. 116 9.4 Employment Forecasts ................................................................................................ 117 9.5 Adjustment of Macro-Economic Demand .................................................................... 120 9.6 Other Factors Impacting on Employment Growth........................................................ 121 9.7 Comparative Advantage Assessment.......................................................................... 122 9.8 Summary of Local Factors ........................................................................................... 127


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CONTENTS

Section Page No

9.9 Summary of Floorspace Forecast ................................................................................ 128 9.10 Other Relevant Employment Land Uses...................................................................... 129 9.11 Summary of Employment Land Forecast..................................................................... 130

10 REDEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL ............................................................................... 132

10.1 Clusters Best Suited for Redevelopment ..................................................................... 132 10.2 Gross and Net Potential Floorspace ............................................................................ 133

11 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................... 139

11.1 Conclusions.................................................................................................................. 139 11.2 Proposed Policy Direction ............................................................................................ 141

APPENDIX A – EMPLOYMENT CLUSTER QUESTIONNAIRE.............................................. 149

APPENDIX B – CROYDON METROPOLITAN CENTRE QUESTIONNAIRE ......................... 154

APPENDIX C – CONSULTATION TOPICS ............................................................................. 157


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ABBREVIATIONS

AAP Area Action Plan

AMR Annual Monitoring Report

CAZ Central Activities Zone

CMC Croydon Metropolitan Centre

DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government

DfT Department for Transport

DPD Development Plan Documents

GIS Geographic Information System

GLA Greater London Authority

JSA Job Seekers Allowance

LB London Borough

LDD Local Development Document

LDF Local Development Framework

LPMA Local Property Market Area

ODPM Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

PIL Preferred Industrial Location

PPG Planning Policy Guidance

PPS Planning Policy Statements

PTAL Public Transport Accessibility Levels

RSL Registered Social Landlords

SIC Standard Industrial Classification

SIL Strategic Industrial Locations

SME Small and Medium sized Enterprise

SLFPMA South London Fringe Property Market Area

SPG Supplementary Planning Guidance

Sqm Square Meters

UDP Unitary Development Plan

VAT Value Added Tax

VOA Valuation Office Agency

LB Croydon Office, Industrial, Warehousing Land/ Premises Market Assessment Final Report

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Context and Purpose

URS, together with Stiles Harold Williams, were commissioned by the London Borough of Croydon

(LB Croydon) in April 2008 to undertake an employment land review to assess the quantity, quality

and viability of employment land throughout the Borough.

The need for such studies has been emphasised in the DCLG’s (Department for Community and

Local Government’s) Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG) 3 (Housing) of January 2005, and most

recently in the June 2010 PPS3 publication, as well as the PPS4 (Planning for Sustainable

Economic Development). PPS4 identifies how local authorities should manage land supplies to

cater for different business needs while remaining flexible to changing economic and business

requirements.

The methodology of this study is in line with the DCLG’s Guidance Notes on Employment Land

Reviews (2004). This guidance suggests the main scope of Employment Land Reviews to focus on

the B use class orders, that is B1 (Business), B2 (General Industrial) and B8 (Storage or

Distribution) and wider employment uses such as land accommodating waste management and

recycling, public transport functions (land for rail and buses) and utilities.

This study will form part of the Council’s evidence base for the emerging Local Development

Framework (LDF) policies as required by Planning Policy Statement 12 (PPS12: Local Spatial

Planning).

Geography of Assessment

The study area included the whole of LB Croydon. There are two main employment areas in the

borough. In the centre-west, lies the Croydon Metropolitan Centre (CMC) – a Strategic Office

Location recognised in the London Plan – which contains the majority of B1a office floorspace in

the borough, with a notable presence of large employers from the public sector as well as financial

and business services, engineering/construction occupiers. The CMC is also the focus of five

masterplan proposals, which together make up a large proportion of the CMC and hold the

potential to bring significant economic and developmental change to the centre of Croydon.

Outside the CMC are employment areas Purley Way and Marlpit Lane, in the west and south of the

Borough, which are industrial areas allocated in the London Plan as Strategic Industrial Locations

(SILs). These contain general industrial, light industrial and warehousing uses (use classes B1b/c,

B2 and B8). There are also a number of other important local employment areas dispersed through

the borough as well as some small pockets of unallocated industrial land, mostly consisting of

single premises or small industrial clusters.

In total 16 employment clusters in the CMC were surveyed and 21 employment clusters outside the

CMC were surveyed. In Section 2, Figures 2.1 and 2.2 identify the location of employment clusters

and Table 2.1 and Table 2.2 list them by name.


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Approach

A number of research elements enable the development of a comprehensive employment land

strategy for the borough. Our approach is set out in Figure 1 below and explained in greater detail

in Section 2 of the report.

Figure 1: Approach to the Employment Land Review

Supply

Employment and business profiling

Employment land surveys

Consultation (stakeholders)

Policy And Socio-Economic Context

Planning Policy

Economic Development

Socio-Economic Analysis

Gap Analysis/ Conclusions

The difference between supply

and demand

Demand

Employment land market

analysis

Employment land forecast


Strategy

Policy Recommendations

Strategy

Supply





Planning Policy





and demand

Demand


analysis



Strategy


Strategy

Policy and Literature Review

An overview of the policies and strategies relevant to employment and employment land in LB

Croydon with respect to national, regional and local policy is set out in Section 3.

Socio-economic analysis and business profiling

It is useful to consider current demand and future provision of employment land in the context of

the socio-economic structure of the area: planning for sustainable communities includes providing

for employment suitable to the local workforce.

Latest figures record 218,600 residents are of working age in LB Croydon (equivalent to 64% of the

population). Of these approximately 81% are economically active, which is slightly higher than

London average (75.5%).


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The workforce occupation breakdown for Croydon indicates that a large proportion of the

population, approximately 47.1%, are employed in managerial, professional and associate

professional occupations, though this is smaller than London (52.8%).

October 2008 to September 2009 the unemployment rate in Croydon was 8.1%, which is the

highest rate of unemployment witnessed in the borough since February 1997.

The average gross weekly earnings for residents is £566.70, which is significantly lower than the

Greater London average workplace earnings and helps to drive out-commuting, though the majority

of residents work within the borough itself (54.8%).

The contribution of small businesses to employment in the borough is sizeable, with businesses

employing one to ten employees, accounting for 85% of its registered businesses and

approximately 26,600 jobs. However, it is the larger organisations which are the dominant

employment providers. The public sector is a key industrial sector, which accounts for 29.9% of all

borough employment, and has grown by approximately over 50% between 1998 and 2008.

Employment Land Survey

URS conducted a field survey and desk based appraisal of the identified employment clusters (as

per Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2, see Section 2) in LB Croydon. These appraisal criteria were set by

the consultants and agreed with the Council.

Our assessment of supply of employment land has included a review of clusters’ suitability for

office (B1) and industrial (B2/B8) land-uses. Owing to the different site characteristics required by

office (B1a) and industrial (B1b/c, B2 and B8) users, the analysis assessed cluster suitability for

these use classes separately. In addition, cluster suitability for accommodating SME workspace

were also assessed, to fit with the aspirations of supporting entrepreneurship, business start up

and growth. An example of differing requirements is that B1 land users usually require better

access to public transport than industrial (B2/B8) land users who require better access to strategic

roads. The assessment criteria and questionnaires used are held as Appendices A and B.

As discussed there were two surveys undertaken: a review of clusters outside the CMC (B1, B2

and B8), comprising 248.5ha of land; and a review of clusters located in the CMC (B1a office)

comprising 49.9ha of land.

The former review found that the borough’s current supply of Strategic Employment Areas and

other Employment Areas is considered to be in healthy condition. Many office clusters displayed

characteristics which define good optimal locations for B1a. Clusters had good or very good access

to public transport, facilities and amenities, and that the condition of buildings and public realm

quality within clusters was generally considered to be good or very good. With respect to industrial

land use suitability, the borough contains several strategic (TLRN) roads and few clusters exhibited

bad neighbour issues with surrounding land use. Though inadequate servicing arrangements were

considered to be generally adequate or better on these clusters, parking was an issue in eight

clusters. The survey identified 6.4ha of vacant or derelict land.

Regarding the CMC the majority of clusters were identified as having good or very good access to

public transport networks or access to facilities or services. Survey’s highlighted the poorer quality

of public realm in and around the west and mid Croydon masterplans areas with high proportions of


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poor quality or outdated (pre 1970s) building stock, and the core of the CMC, in terms of

marketability, located around George Street and Wellesley Road. Nine sites, dispersed across the

CMC area, contained either vacant developable land or derelict buildings, with few sites displaying

physical features which would restrict development intensification. Focused along Wellesley Road,

five clusters were identified as having low building height relative to their surroundings or spatial

location.

Tables 5.12 and 6.10 provide a summary of results presented in Section 5 and 6 of the quality and

characteristics of the Employment Clusters outside the CMC and CMC clusters, respectively.

Property Market Analysis

Stiles Harold Williams covered a review of the CMC Office (B1a) Market, covering the South

London Fringe Property Market Area (SLFPMA). The CMC office market was deemed to cater for

the needs of larger occupiers with a wider area of search for business accommodation, including

employment sectors such as the public sector, financial and business services and insurance. As

such the CMC market was assessed separately to the local office stock in the rest of the borough.

The remaining local office market predominantly caters for the needs of SMEs with a different

geographical requirements and rental profile. Croydon’s B2 (Industrial) and B8 (Industrial

Warehousing) markets also operate at a local level (defined as the Local Property Market Area or

LPMA), and for this reason the market assessment for local office occupiers was undertaken

analysis alongside an assessment of the B2 (Industrial) and B8 (Industrial Warehousing) markets.

In relation to the local office, industries and warehousing market, Stiles Harold Williams concluded:

• There has been a considerable amount of development of warehouse and factory

accommodation in Croydon over the last decade replacing older stock from the post war

era, which was unsuitable for today’s modern occupier.

• Over the past decade the market has changed from an engineering/ manufacturing basis

to one of storage and distribution - a trend that is expected to continue. Accessibility is a

key driver of this trend - Croydon being ideally situated equidistant between the M25/M23

and central London

• However, there has been continued pressure on employment clusters from residential

development. As a result some industrial/warehousing space has been lost. Now there is

little land available along the main arterial roads such as the A23 Purley Way for future

development.

• In the District Centres a number of clusters provide premises for SMEs, offering smaller

premises at lower rental levels and often with more flexible leasing arrangements. Here too

there has been pressure from alternative use classes which in some instances has

removed older style industrial premises from the market place. The loss of premises

impacts upon the capability of centres to support local entrepreneurship and provide local

employment opportunities.

In relation to the CMC market, conclusions drawn were:


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• The CMC holds the largest area of office floorspace in the south London area, outside of

SE1. It benefits from excellent public transport links and provides a wide selection of office

accommodation of varying sizes.

• Generally the CMC has aged stock, there has been very little recent development and

suffers from a physical public realm which needs improving, which adds to negative

preconceptions of place

• The town has seen prime rents to fall due to the economic downturn, which began in

quarter two of 2008. This trend is expected to continue as similar quality second hand and

refurbished space enters the market.

• In order to draw occupiers from competing centres, the CMC Office market will need to

improve the quality of the built environment. This is likely to entail significant speculative

development in the hope of achieving higher rents (around £300 / sqm)

• The CMC offers a cost-effective location for occupiers and has the capacity to deliver new

developments with rents that could be significantly lower than comparable buildings in

central London

• The combination of excellent public transport infrastructure with significant development

potential with the benefit of planning permission for office and mixed use development is

considered to be a strong draw for occupiers and developers.

• While refurbishments can be successful, the likelihood of success is highly site specific,

and it is the stimulation of new build office development in the CMC is considered vital to

the ability of the borough to capture a greater proportion of future employment growth and

fulfil its economic potential.

See Section 7 sets for a full review of Croydon’s property markets.

Demand Forecast for Employment Floorspace and Land

Our approach is to use employment projections based on macro-economic forecasts. This

approach takes account of wider drivers of change and growth, particularly with regard to the

economy of London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) model presents macro-economic

forecasts for based on a ‘triangulation’ process, which incorporates:

• Structural trends evident in the boroughs

• Assumed transport accessibility improvements, and

• The availability of current, and the development of new, business sites and related

premises.

To enhance the model, we

• Consider the property market areas with respect to different employment land use classes

and locations


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• Identify, analyse and apply the effects of local / sub-regional factors which are not reflected

in the demand forecasts; and

• Analyse the comparative strengths and opportunities of LB Croydon, and consider how the

borough might capture a greater share of employment growth.

By this method we ensure that the GLA macro-economic forecasts appropriately incorporate local

factors. Table 1 presents a synopsis of local factors which impact on the forecast.

Table 1: Factors Impacting on Demand Forecasts in LB Croydon

SLFPMA Local PMA

CMC Office (B1a) Local Office (B1a) B2 Factories B8 Warehouses

Local Factors

Investment in transport ��

Realisation of masterplans ��

Rebranding / marketing ��

An enterprising borough ��

Public administration ��

Comparative Advantages

Economic activity ��

Workforce �

Transport / Accessibility ��

Sites and premises ��

Source: URS

In summary, it is judged that LB Croydon has a number of positive local factors which are planned

or could come forward, and inherent comparative advantages over the competing centres of the

SLFPMA and the LPMA. In combination these factors and advantages could enable higher rates of

growth of office and industrial employment in the borough over the planning period than those

identified in the 2010 GLA forecasts.

We apply three development rates (low, medium and high, to represent three scenarios of growth)

to each of the employment forecasts for CMC Office, Local Market Office and Local Market

Industrial.

Table 2: Growth Scenarios, 2011 to 2031

Low scenario Medium scenario High scenario

Office, CMC +5% +10% +15%

Office, Local 0% +.2.5% +5%

Industry -15% -10% -5%

Source: URS

* = B1a

** = B1b/c, B2/B8


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The net growth in demand for CMC Office, Local Market Office and Local Market Industrial

floorspace over the planning period, 2011 to 2031 is set out in Table 3.

Table 3: LB Croydon Employment Gross Floorspace Forecast in 2031

Future Floorspace (2031)

Current Floorspace* Low Scenario Medium Scenario High Scenario

Office CMC* 619,000 649,950 680,900 711,850

Office Local* 130,000 130,000 133,250 136,500

Industry ** 943,000 801,550 848,700 895,850

Total 1,692,000 1,581,500 1,662,850 1,744,200

Source: *VOA 2008 & URS, 2010

Note: B1a Office data by VOA data by middle layer Super Output Area

* = B1a

** = B1b/c, B2/B8

The indicative additional floorspace demand in square metres for CMC Office, Local Market Office

and Local Market Industrial floorspace for the short to medium term period (2011-2021) and the

long term period (2021-2031)

Table 4: LB Croydon Forecast of Additional Floorspace Demand (sqm)

Years 2011-21 Years 2021-31 Years 2011-31

Low Medium High Low Medium High Low Medium High

Office, CMC* 14,492 28,985 43,477 16,458 32,915 49,373 30,950 61,900 92,850

Office, Local* 0 1,776 3,552 0 1,474 2,948 0 3,250 6,500

Industry ** -94,041 -62,694 -31,347 -47,409 -31,606 -15,803 -141,450 -94,300 -47,150


* = B1a

** = B1b/c, B2/B8

The 2004 CLG ELR guidance, states that where possible employment floorspace should be

converted to employment land using plot ratios.1 However, given that the office development in the

CMC can vary considerably (from 3 to 20 plus storeys) it is not considered suitable to convert the

additional demand of office floorspace into land.

However, development density (plot ratio and storey height) tends to be static for industrial and

warehousing premises and as such floorspace forecasts can be converted to land demand.

There are a number of other factors to take into account however, such as the changing demand

for waste and recycling land and the need to retain an appropriate level of vacant or derelict land

1 Page 47 of the Guidance


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for developers to build new industrial buildings (termed frictional vacancy and normally accepted as

being between 5% of total stock). Industry and warehousing demand is set out in Table 5.

Table 5: LB Croydon Employment Floorspace Demand, 2011 to 2031

Additional elements of demand for B2/B8 land use Low Medium High

1. Gross supply of B2/B8 Land in LB Croydon in 2010:

B2/B8 = 180.7 ha, which includes existing land for waste mgmt & recycling,

transport functions & utilities; and vacant land *

180.7

2. Net frictional land vacancy requirement to 2031 (Ha):

5% of 180.7ha ** +9.04

3. Additional demand for waste and recycling land:

Figure from the London Waste Apportionment Study +8.0

4. Projected demand in floorspace

Additional demand for industrial and warehousing land (Ha) – section 9 of

this report

-28.3 -18.8 -9.5

5. Gross demand for B2/B8 land 2011 – 2031 (Ha) 169.4 178.9 188.2

6. Net Demand for B2/B8 Employment Land 2011-2031 (Ha) -11.3 -1.8 7.5

Source: URS, 2010

* = LDA London Industrial Land Baseline (2010) p81

** = GLA London Industrial Land Release Benchmarks (2007), p66

Redevelopment Potential

The forecast indicated positive growth in office (B1a) and, under certain scenario’s, growth in local

employment land. Given the supply constrained environment, in section 10 we present a short list

of clusters in the CMC and outside the CMC which are best placed to accommodate this additional

demand through redevelopment. The term ‘redevelopment’ is used to describe new build activity;

development that could take place on a vacant / derelict site or in the place of a currently occupied

building; or intensification (e.g. extra storeys added / increase of plot ratio).

The selection of these clusters was based upon site qualities, characteristics and marketability

drawn from the site surveys and market assessment. CMC clusters are given priority tiers 1, 2 and

3 according to how well placed they were judged to accommodate redevelopment. Priority tier 1

clusters include key sites close to the East Croydon station - the proposed masterplan clusters of

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan Area (West) and CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of

College Road), as well as key sites in central locations - CMC 10b George Street and Landsdowne

Rd (George Street) and CMC 10a George Street and Lansdowne Rd (Dingwall Road). Table 10.1

provides details.

For CMC clusters, we consider the potential net gain of those sites given a priority tier 1 and 2. In

total the potential net gain of office floorspace for priority 1 and 2 clusters is significantly higher than

the high growth demand forecast in the CMC over the planning period, of 92,850 sqm. See Table

10.4.


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Given the low demand forecast for office floorspace outside the CMC (up to 6,500 sqm, high

scenario) and the relatively static demand for industry and warehousing land (-1.8 ha, mid-

scenario) over the planning period, the non CMC clusters were not given priority tiers. The centres

of Purley, Coulsdon and Upper Norwood were considered to have characteristics best suited for

local office provision (as well as Cane Hill); and clusters Purley Way North (Mill Lane Area),

Selsdon Road (North and Central), Vulcan Way and Warren Road were considered best placed to

accommodate redevelopment for industry and warehousing. See Tables 10.2 and 10.3.

Conclusions

Office (B1a) Land Use

Our forecasting exercise estimated that there is additional demand up to 2031 for between 30,950

sqm and 99,350 sqm of office floorspace in LB Croydon. The majority of this demand is for office

space in the CMC. This demand is due in large part to the expected realisation of masterplans,

providing B1 floorspace, and the positive impacts of rebranding and re-positioning Croydon as

envisaged in its Economic Development Strategy and Vision.

Our property market analysis indicates that the CMC office market typically caters for headquarter

companies and large companies seeking a key location within the wider SLFPMA. These occupiers

are generally prepared to pay higher rents and with a wider market, and potentially supplier and

workforce catchment area.

Initiatives such as the extension of the East London Line, the proposed masterplans and

rebranding of the CMC will have a positive economic effect on the demand for office stock and the

council should therefore plan spatially to accommodate this demand in appropriate locations.

In addition to the presence of larger occupiers in the CMC area there is localised B1a floorspace

demand from SMEs. The local office market in Croydon contains a range of small premises

accommodated mainly within town/district centres, such as Purley, Coulsdon, Norbury and Upper

Norwood. There has been a fall in supply in some centres recently, particularly Norbury, owing to

development pressure from higher value land uses.

Premises in the local market are generally considered to be adequate to meet the need of SMEs,

however there is some demand for newer, better quality, premises. Some of the ‘local’ demand for

office space would likely be met by available floorspace within the CMC, due to its strong borough-

wide accessibility, comparatively low rental prices, and wider range of amenities.

Industrial (B1b/c, B2 and B8) Land Use

There is a total of 180.7 ha of land currently in industrial use in LB Croydon, with total industrial

floorspace estimated to be in the region of 836,000 sqm. Our forecast shows that there is projected

to be a slight decline in demand for industrial land in the period 2011 to 2031 for the lower and

medium scenarios. Factors such as the expected increase in demand for waste and recycling land,

the need to retain an appropriate level of ‘frictional’ vacant land and the Industrial Capacity SPG’s

categorisation of Croydon as a borough for restricted transfer, need to be taken into consideration.

On the supply-side, our qualitative appraisal of employment clusters, and property market analysis,

indicate that, as a whole, the current supply of industrial premises is considered to be appropriate

for the needs of occupiers in the borough and will continue to attract interest from new occupiers,

owing to such characteristics as good strategic road access and proximity to markets.


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Some employment areas, and pockets of unallocated industrial land, however have issues such as

poor servicing arrangements, poor quality of premises and environment or are accessed via

residential areas, and thus do not perform as well as they might within the strategic context.

Given the need to retain industrial land to cater for the factors mentioned above, and the generally

strong performance of UDP employment areas, it is considered inappropriate to recommend the

release of allocated employment land in the borough over the LDF plan period.

There are however areas of UDP designated industrial employment land which could benefit from

intensification, in order to provide a supply of new, modern premises (particularly to accommodate

SMEs), improve the quality of public realm and lessen impacts on neighbouring sensitive uses.

Employment clusters in New Addington and Fieldway are close to areas of deprivation and provide

redevelopment and intensification which could stimulate local regeneration.

The qualitative survey identified that a number of clusters have been developed in recent years for

non-B class land uses If this trend is allowed to continue unchecked, then employment areas may

become further eroded, as developers may seek to take advantage of precedents set by

neighbouring site owners.

It is also anticipated that industrial employment floorspace outside of designated employment areas

(EM5 sites) will, based on the status quo, continue to be lost to higher-value non-industrial uses

owing to pressure from competing uses/high land values, which are expected to persist in the long-

term.

Proposed Policy Direction

The recommendations are presented around the following themes:

1. CMC Office Uses (B1a): Promotion of new, higher density office floorspace (as part of

mixed use developments) in central locations of the CMC which are highly marketable

and developable. These sites, some of which are located within the proposal

boundaries of masterplans, offer the potential to deliver B1a office floorspace as part of

mixed use developments and reinvigorate Croydon’s urban realm. Their locations

within the CMC, among other things, offer opportunities for business to access an

efficient transport network, access a wide travel to work catchment area with a diverse

and skilled labour market and market, and lower rental values than central London.

2. Local Office (B1a): Encouragement of B1a office floorspace within district, town and

local centres.

3. Industrial Uses (B1b/c, B2 and B8): Protection of industry and warehousing uses

across the borough for B1b/c, B2 and B8 use to limit the loss of land and floorspace

within these clusters to non-employment land use, including the sui-generis use class.

4. Monitoring of Employment Land: Monitoring of take up and loss of employment land

across the borough, with specific attention to non-B class employment use classes.

The recommendations come in the format of a recommendation and then supporting justification

and rationale. Only the recommendations are presented on the next page.


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CMC Office Uses (B1a)

R1 Promote B1a office development in the CMC, first within tier 1 priority clusters:

Tier 1 priority clusters

• CMC 2b - East Croydon Masterplan Area (West)

• CMC 4a - College Green Masterplan (North of College Road)

• CMC 10a- George Street and Lansdowne Rd (Dingwall Road)

• CMC 10b- George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street)

Tier 2 priority sites, having characteristics highly suitable to office development, should also

be the focus of promotion by the Council, though are considered to be of a lesser

importance than tier 1 priority clusters:


• CMC 2a- East Croydon Masterplan Area (East)

• CMC 13 - Cross Road

• CMC 3b - Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street)

• CMC 3a - Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street)

Local B1a Office

R2 The Council should seek to encourage the retention of office (B1a) floorspace in District

Centres (as defined by the London Plan).

R3 The Council should seek to encourage office (B1a) and light industry use (B1b/c and B2)

floorspace in Upper Norwood, which support creative (and cultural) industries.

Industrial Uses (B1b/c, B2 and B8)

R4 Protection of all clusters designated as Strategic Employment Areas and Employment

Areas, as per the adopted UDP, and the ‘Strategic Industrial Location’ (SIL) designation, as per the

London Plan

R5 As per policy EM5 of the existing UDP, allow unallocated sites to remain protected by

ensuring that release to non-industrial uses only occurs where;

• ‘The existing use materially harms residential amenity; and

• It has been demonstrated that there is no demand for an appropriate alternative

employment use; and

• The proposal is for housing or a community use; and


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• The proposed use would not prejudice the continued use of adjacent employment sites.’

R6 Feasibility study to assess the potential for Cane Hill to accommodate a zero-carbon

technology park, with start up and grow on space for B1a/b/c land uses, as part of a wider mixed-

use masterplan.

R7 Promote the provision of start-up and grow-on units for light-industry/storage and

distribution use classes, within the following UDP designated employment areas:

• C2B - Purley Way North (Progress Way/ Commerce Way)

• C2C - Purley Way North (North of Tramlink Bridge)

• C2D - Purley Way North (Mill Lane Area)

• C4 - Union Road

• C8A - Marlpit Lane - West of A23

R8 Promote improved estate management at the following Strategic Employment Areas /

Employment Areas, with the intention of encouraging redevelopment and intensification of land

use, and improving environmental quality:


• C6A - Selsdon Road (North)

• C6B - Selsdon Road (Central)

• C7 - Vulcan Way

Also promote improved land management at non-UDP designated C11 - Land at Warren Road

(Aggregates Site), to improve environmental quality and interface with neighbouring uses.

Monitoring of Employment Land

R9 Monitoring development and occupancy in all Strategic Employment Areas and

Employment Areas


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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Context and Purpose

URS, in association with Stiles Harold Williams were commissioned by the London Borough of

Croydon (LB Croydon) to undertake an employment land review to assess the quantity, quality

and viability of employment land throughout the Borough and evaluate the viability of existing

Unitary Development Plan (UDP) employment policies as well as inform the Council’s

emerging LDF evidence base and associated policies. The Review provides appropriate policy

responses that ensure that the need for employment land up to 2031 is addressed and takes

account of the socio-economic characteristics of the borough.

The need for such studies has been emphasised in the DCLG’s (Department for Community

and Local Government’s) Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG) 3 Housing of January 2005,

and most recently in the June 2010 PPS3 publication. PPG3 suggests that local planning

authorities should review all their non-housing allocations when reviewing their development

plan and consider whether some of this land might be better used for housing or mixed-use

development. Of particular importance to employment land policy and reviews such as this is

paragraph 42(a) which states:

‘Local planning authorities should consider favourably planning applications for housing or

mixed use developments which concern land allocated for industrial or commercial use in

saved policies and development plan documents or redundant land or buildings in

industrial or commercial use, but which is no longer needed for such use, unless any of

the following apply:

• it can be demonstrated, preferably through an up-to-date review of employment

land …, that there is a realistic prospect of the allocation being taken up for its

stated use in the plan period…’

The methodology applied in this study is in line with the DCLG’s Guidance Notes on

Employment Land Reviews (2004). This guidance suggests the scope of Employment Land

Reviews should focus on the B use class orders, that is B1 (Business), B2 (General Industrial)

and B8 (Storage or Distribution). The Guidance also suggests that studies should take

account of wider employment uses such as utilities, land for transport and waste management.

As noted, the study will form part of the Council’s evidence base for the emerging Local

Development Framework (LDF) policies as required by Planning Policy Statement 12

(PPS12). Furthermore, PPS4 identifies how local authorities should manage land supplies to

cater for different business needs while remaining flexible to changing economic and business

requirements.

In September 2010 LB Croydon will be consulting on further options of the Core Strategy

including developing the Industrial and Enterprise Locations strategy. This report informs

consultation on the Industrial and Enterprise Locations sections of the emerging Core

Strategy.

1.2 Study Area

The study area included the whole of LB Croydon. There are several main employment areas

in the Borough. In the centre-west of the Borough, lies the Croydon Metropolitan Centre

(hereafter referred to as the ‘CMC’) – a Strategic Office Location recognised in the London


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Plan – which contains a large quantum of B1a office floorspace, with a notable presence of

public sector administration and financial and business services occupiers. The borough’s

main location of office floorspace is held in the CMC. Clusters within the CMC are located

either side of Wellesley Road, which cuts through the centre north-south, around East and

West Croydon mainline stations and the Old Town. Elsewhere, outside the CMC, office

floorspace is contained within the Borough’s District, Town and Local Centres, notably Purley

and Norbury.

Outside the CMC, Purley Way and Marlpit Lane, in the west and south of the Borough, are

traditional industrial areas allocated in the London Plan as Strategic Industrial Locations

(SILs)2. These contain general industrial, light industrial and warehousing uses (use classes

B1b/c, B2 and B8). There are also several important local industrial employment areas

dispersed through the Borough such as Gloucester Road, Union Road and Thornton Road to

the north of the borough; Selsdon Road to the south; and the district centre of New Addington

in the south east. In addition there are some small pockets of unallocated industrial land

located throughout Croydon, mostly consisting of single premises or small industrial clusters.

The full list of clusters surveyed is presented in Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2.

1.3 Report Structure

This report sets out our final findings and policy recommendations for employment land in LB

Croydon, taking into account the future economic development of the area. The report is

structured as follows:

• Section 2: Details of our approach to the review.

• Section 3: A review of national, regional and local policy context of particular

relevance to employment land, the economy, regeneration and related issues in LB

Croydon.

• Section 4: A comprehensive analysis of socio-economic baseline conditions, and

information on key sectors, in LB Croydon relative to the rest of London and Great

Britain.

• Section 5: Key findings of the local office and industrial employment area surveys and

desk research.

• Section 6: Key findings of the CMC office employment area surveys and desk

research.

• Section 7: Analysis of the employment land market defining the regional and local

property markets and any trends in the commercial and industrial property sectors,

based on consultations with local property agents.

• Section 8: Consultations with stakeholders

• Section 9: Forecasts of employment demand and floorspace over the short to medium

term and longer term.

• Section 10: An assessment of the priority clusters which could accommodate the

demand for employment land over the planning period.

2 A sub-category of Preferred Industrial Location (PIL)


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• Section 11 presents conclusions and recommendations on the employment land

strategy that the Council should adopt over the LDF timeframe including suggestions

on retention and release of employment land and sites. These recommendations

include an assessment of the viability of existing UDP policies, together with new

recommendations.


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2 APPROACH

2.1 Introduction

This section sets out the main research elements of the employment land review as illustrated

in Figure 2.1. Each element is reviewed briefly in the following sub-sections.

Figure 2.1: Approach to the Employment Land Review

Supply





Planning Policy





and demand

Demand


analysis



Strategy


Strategy

Supply





Planning Policy





and demand

Demand


analysis



Strategy


Strategy

Source: URS

2.2 Policy Context and Socio-economic Profile

In order to fully understand the drivers of demand and supply of office and industrial sites and

premises across LB Croydon and potential constraints and opportunities, it is necessary to

investigate the policy framework and socio-economic context.

The policy review took account of current national, regional and local policies and strategies.

The review provided an initial identification of employment land clusters across the borough,

which provided the basis for discussion with the Council on which sites to survey.

The socio-economic characteristics of the borough were profiled using a number of

information sources from ONS – datasets from the Census, Annual Business Inquiry, New

Earnings Survey and VAT registration. For comparison, LB Croydon data was benchmarked

against Greater London and the UK. The profiling help to identify key issues regarding

business competitiveness, industrial structure, labour market structure and deprivation.


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2.3 Survey of Employment Sites and Premises

To assess the strategic and site-specific qualities of the borough’s employment areas, URS

undertook site surveys. The list of employment areas for survey was drawn up from the

following information sources:

• The UDP (July 2006)

• Emerging AAP/ LDF documentation

• Emerging OAPF database, listing sites with the potential for office use

• Planning and pre-planning application information

• Masterplans; and

• Through discussions with the Council and during survey.

From these sources, three types of employment land were identified:

1. Industrial and warehousing land

2. Office sites located in district, town and local centres; and

3. Office employment areas located in the CMC.

Employment land was divided into distinctive employment clusters (collections of sites) and

agreed with the Council prior to surveying. Prior to survey the employment clusters were

defined spatially using GIS layers from the adopted UDP proposals map (July 2006), URS

London Industrial Land Baseline mapping (2010 on behalf of the LDA/GLA), aerial

photography and the client and consultancy team’s knowledge of the area. In some instances

site surveys found that there were two or more distinct sub-clusters operating within the larger

cluster. As such these sub-clusters were assessed and their boundaries identified and labelled

(a, b, c, d etc) for each division. Table 2.1 and Figure 2.1 set out the location and content of

employment clusters outside the CMC, and Table 2.2 and Figure 2.2 set out the location and

content of employment clusters within the CMC.

Each cluster was visited and appraised against an agreed set of economic, planning and

property market criteria to assess their fitness for purpose. The criteria used to assess sites

were in line with DCLG Employment Land Review Guidance Notes and the GLA Industrial

Land Capacity SPG (Industrial Land Capacity SPG, GLA, 2005) as well as PPS4 guidance.

To ensure consistency surveyors used a structured questionnaire, manual and a map of each

employment area. The questionnaire included a series of tick-box style and open-ended

questions to capture qualitative and quantitative information. Once the physical inspections

were complete (during April 2010) the survey data was entered into a database for analysis.

Appendix A holds the Employment Cluster questionnaire and Appendix B holds the CMC

cluster questionnaire.


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Table 2.1: Employment Clusters Surveyed Outside the CMC

URS

Cluster

No.

Employment Area/Name of Cluster LB Croydon Adopted UDP

(2006) Designation / Site

Proposals

Total

Employment

Cluster Area

(ha)

C1 Thornton Road Employment Area 4.7

C2a Purley Way North (East of Purley Way) Strategic Employment Area 28.7

C2b Purley Way North (Progress Way/ Commerce Way) Strategic Employment Area 24.4

C2c Purley Way North (North of Tramlink Bridge) Strategic Employment Area 8.3

C2d Purley Way North (Mill Lane Area) Strategic Employment Area 2.8

C3a Purley Way South (Imperial Way/Lysander Road) Strategic Employment Area 22.8

C3b Purley Way South (Queensway/Kingsway/Princes Way) Strategic Employment Area 10.4

C3c Purley Way South (Jn of Stafford Road/Purley Way) Strategic Employment Area 0.7

C4 Union Road Employment Area 3.3

C5a Gloucester Road (West of) Employment Area 5.3

C5b Gloucester Road (East of) Employment Area 3.2

C6a Selsdon Road (North) Employment Area 2.6

C6b Selsdon Road (Central) Employment Area 2.1

C6c Selsdon Road (South) Employment Area 2.1

C7 Vulcan Way Employment Area 9.2

C8a Marlpit Lane (West of A23) Strategic Employment Area 5.8

C8b Marlpit Lane (East of A23) Strategic Employment Area 14.2

C9 Bensham Grove * 2.1

C10 Hastings Road (Harris & Bailey Site) * 2.0

C11 Land at Warren Road (Aggregates Site) * 2.5

C12 Cane Hill Major Developed Site in the

Green Belt 4.0 **

C13 Upper Norwood District Centre 8.4

C14 Norbury Town Centre 10.2

C15 Thornton Heath Town Centre 9.7

C16 South Norwood District Centre 13.9

C17 Selsdon District Centre 4.8

C18 New Addington District Centre 6.5

C19 Purley Town Centre 19.4

C20 Coulsdon Town Centre 10.1

C21 Addiscombe Local Centre 4.4

Total 428.5

Source: URS site survey, 2010. Note that this list is not a ranking of the clusters. * = Non-designated sites i.e. not protected within the Strategic Employment Area or Employment Areas ** = The total land area is 88.0ha, however we are advised by the Council that the area available for development is 4.0ha


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Figure 2.1: Employment Clusters Surveyed Outside the CMC

Source: URS


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Table 2.2: Surveyed CMC Clusters

URS Cluster

no.

Name Policy Designation Area

(hectares)

CMC 1a West Croydon Masterplan (East side) Strategic Office Location 1.9

CMC 1b West Croydon Masterplan (West side) Strategic Office Location 4.6

CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan (East of station tracks) Strategic Office Location 3.0

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan (Station and West of station tracks) Strategic Office Location 6.8

CMC 3a Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street) Strategic Office Location 1.4

CMC 3b Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street) Strategic Office Location 2.9

CMC 3c Mid Croydon Masterplan (South of Katherine Street) Strategic Office Location 3.7

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road) Strategic Office Location 0.8

CMC 4b College Green Masterplan (South of College Road) Strategic Office Location 5.1

CMC 5 Old Town: Cairo New Road Strategic Office Location 0.9

CMC 6 Mason’s Avenue and Croydon Flyover Strategic Office Location 1.7

CMC 7 North of Bedford Park Strategic Office Location 0.9

CMC 8 Land between Sydenham Road and Bedford Park Strategic Office Location 1.4

CMC 9 Land between Landsdowne Road and Sydenham Road Strategic Office Location 1.1

CMC 10a George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Dingwall Road) Strategic Office Location 0.8

CMC 10b George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street) Strategic Office Location 0.7

CMC 10c George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Wellesley Road) Strategic Office Location 2.3

CMC 11a Whitgift Centre (Wellesley Road side) Strategic Office Location 2.1

CMC 11b Whitgift Centre (North End) Strategic Office Location 3.3

CMC 12a North End and Lennard Rd End (East of London Road) None 1.1

CMC 12b Parson’s Mead and North (West of London Road) None 1.3

CMC 13 Cross Road Strategic Office Location 0.6

CMC 14 Car Park to north of Lansdowne Rd Strategic Office Location 0.9

CMC 15 Church Rd / Croydon Flyover Strategic Office Location 0.3

CMC 16 South of Old Town (a, b, c and d) Strategic Office Location 0.5

Total 49.9

Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey, May 2010, Calculations may not always sum due

to rounding


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Figure 2.2: CMC Clusters Surveyed

Source: URS


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2.4 Market Analysis

Property market specialists Stiles Harold Williams assessed the LB Croydon’s office, industrial

and warehousing property markets. The assessment involved an analysis of supply and

demand characteristics such as stock, take up rates, availability, rental levels and the

development pipeline. The review defined the property markets of each land use. Property

markets can be considered as a single geographical area over which a company or

organisation may consider as viable alternative location for their operation. As such the

property market area is the catchment area of other competing centres, which are likely to

offer similar supply characteristics.

The review took account of the wider market of the South London Fringe Property Market Area

(SLFPMA) and the local Property Market Area (LPMA). The logic and reasoning for two

property market areas is set out in Section 7. Stiles Harold Williams also provided an analysis

of the marketability of specific employment sites which informed the gap analysis and the

consideration of sites for redevelopment as set out in Section 10.

2.5 Consultation

A key exercise of the research programme was to consult with relevant local business groups,

business support organisations, and economic and regeneration organisations active in LB

Croydon. The exercise supplemented desk-based research and surveys findings, and sought

to test the emerging findings and conclusions relating to the demand and provision of office

and industrial sites and premises. Consultation took the form of a semi-structured interview by

telephone around topics including: LB Croydon as a place to do business; business needs; the

demand and supply of sites and premises, their characteristics and their suitability;

opportunities and constraints to growth; inward investment and regeneration; labour force

structure, education and skills and economic inclusion.

Appendix C holds a full list of discussion topics.

2.6 Employment Land Forecast

The employment land demand forecast were driven by GLA employment forecasts3 by

borough and shaped by information from the property market assessment, analysis of local

factors such as future regeneration initiatives likely to influence employment land demand, and

the consultation exercise.

2.7 Gap Analysis

The proceeding tasks developed a picture of the current stock and forecast of additional

demand for employment land over the planning period. An analysis of the gap between supply

and demand was then undertaken to estimate the required employment floorspace over the

short–medium term (to 2021) and longer term (2021 to 2031) in relation to supply, and

illustrate the short fall in provision.

2.8 Consideration of Sites for Redevelopment

The gap analysis illustrated a shortfall in the provision of employment land – in particular office

floorspace in the CMC, over the planning period. To meet this shortfall, sites and buildings

3 GLA Economics Borough Employment Projections to 2031


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were identified that could be developed or redeveloped for employment land. The identification

of sites and buildings focused on vacant sites, empty/underused buildings and land, and poor

quality /older stock. The potential achievable plot ratio and building height and mix of use

classes by site were deduced via site surveys and provided to the Council’s Planning and

Urban Design Team for comment. Stiles Harold Williams informed the marketability and

development constraints of sites and premises.

2.9 Conclusions and Recommendations

The conclusion draws together the research evidence and summarises the employment land

current position and outlook for the borough. The recommendations are based on robust

evidence amassed through the research programme. Recommendations are made for office

and industrial/warehousing use classes at a generic and site specific level, as appropriate.

Recommendations take account of local, regional and national planning framework, strategies

and initiatives, and designed to be realistic, actionable and attainable. The recommendations

seek to promote regeneration and economic opportunities for residents and businesses in LB

Croydon, with the overarching aim of enhancing the borough’s economy.


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3 POLICIES AND LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 Introduction

This section provides an overview of the policies and strategies relevant to employment and

employment land in LB Croydon. The review frames the context to the research in terms of

national, regional and local policy, the relationship between which is presented in the hierarchy

in Figure 3.1 below.

Figure 3.1: Policy and Literature Hierarchy

Source: URS

3.2 National Policy

Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) provide a national guidance framework setting out a range

of planning principles and objectives on specific topics.

PPS1: Delivering Sustainable Communities

PPS1 emphasises the important role that the planning system has in the delivery of

sustainable development. It encourages local authorities to recognise wider sub-regional,

regional and national benefits of economic development and consider these alongside any

adverse local impacts.

Local Policy and Literature

• Unitary Development Plan

• LDF Core Strategy DPD

• Vision and Economic Development Strategy

• Area Action Plans and Supplementary Planning Guidance

• Evidence Base Documents

Regional Policy

• Strategic Development Plan

• Supplementary Planning Guidance

• Economic Development Strategy

• Other Relevant Studies

National Policy

Planning Policy Statements


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Reference is given to the UK’s strategy on sustainable development, which emphasises the

role of planning to provide attractive places to live and work and development patterns that

minimise the need to travel.

PPS3: Housing

PPS3 was released in November 2006 to replace the previous PPG3, and was further

updated in June 2010. The Government’s key housing policy goal is to ensure that everyone

has the opportunity to live in a decent home, which they can afford, in a community where they

want to live. The statement has four key objectives that include:

• To achieve a wide choice of high quality homes, both affordable and market

housing, to address the requirements of the community

• To widen opportunities for home ownership and ensure high quality housing for

those who cannot afford market housing, in particular those who are vulnerable or in

need

• To improve affordability across the housing market, including by increasing the

supply of housing, and

• To create sustainable, inclusive, mixed communities in all areas, both urban and

rural.

The Statement identifies that to ensure effective use of land Local Planning Authorities (LPAs)

should consider a range of incentives or interventions that could help to ensure that previously

developed land is developed in line with market trajectories. This should include:

• Planning to address obstacles to the development of vacant and derelict sites and

buildings, for example, use of compulsory purchase powers where that would help

resolve land ownership or assembly issues

• Considering whether sites that are currently allocated for industrial or commercial

use could be more appropriately re-allocated for housing development

• Encouraging innovative housing schemes that make effective use of public sector

previously developed land.

PPS4: Planning for Sustainable Economic Development

PPS4 ‘Planning for Sustainable Economic Development’ sets out the Government’s

overarching objective of achieving sustainable economic growth. The statement emphasises

that planning must help build prosperous communities by improving the economic

performance of areas, reduce the gaps between the growth rates between regions, promote

regeneration, deliver more sustainable patterns of economic development and promote the

vitality and viability of towns and other centres. PPS4 defines economic development as

including B Use Classes, public and community uses, main town centre uses and other

potential uses where they provide employment opportunities and/or generate wealth and/or

produces or generate an economic output or product.

PPS4 prescribes that local authorities should take a proactive approach n planning for the

promotion of competitive town centre environments and consumer choice. This should be

done by:

• ‘supporting a diverse range of uses which appeal to a wide range of age and a.

social groups, ensuring that these are distributed throughout the centre


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• planning for a strong retail mix so that the range and quality of the comparison b.

and convenience retail offer meets the requirements of the local catchment area,

recognising that smaller shops can significantly enhance the character and vibrancy

of a centre

• supporting shops, services and other important small scale economic uses c.

(including post offices, petrol stations, village halls and public houses) in local

centres and villages.

• identifying sites in the centre, or failing that on the edge of the centre, capable d. of

accommodating larger format developments where a need for such development

has been identified

• retaining and enhancing existing markets and, where appropriate, e. re-introducing

or creating new ones, ensuring that markets remain attractive and competitive by

investing in their improvement, and

• taking measures to conserve and, where appropriate, enhance the established f.

character and diversity of their town centres.’

It also notes that local planning authorities should identify an appropriate portfolio of sites to

accommodate identified needs, taking care to ensure that sites are capable of accommodating

a range of business models that are appropriate in terms of their scale, format, car parking

provision and their scope for disaggregation. In their approach to doing this, local authorities

should:

• ‘base their approach on the identified need for development

• identify the appropriate scale of development, ensuring that the scale of the sites

identified and the level of travel they generate, are in keeping with the role and

function of the centre within the hierarchy of centres and the catchment served

• apply the sequential approach to site selection

• assess the impact of sites on existing centres, and

• consider the degree to which other considerations such as any physical

regeneration benefits of developing on previously-developed sites, employment

opportunities, increased investment in an area or social inclusion, maybe material to

the choice of appropriate locations for development.’

PPS10: Planning for Sustainable Waste Management

PPS10 requires that a broad range of sites including existing industrial estates should be

considered when deciding where to locate new waste and recycling facilities. Effort should be

made to locate waste processing facilities close to the producers of waste which are often

those operating on existing business and industrial areas.

It also suggests that local waste planners should look for opportunities to locate

complementary facilities together on appropriate sites. When identifying sites for waste

management facilities the PPS suggests that local waste planners assess sites using the

following criteria:

• ‘The extent to which they support the policies in PPS10


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• The physical and environmental constraints on development, including existing and

proposed neighbouring land uses

• The cumulative effect of previous waste disposal facilities on the well-being of the

local community, including any significant adverse impacts on environmental quality,

social cohesion and inclusion or economic potential

• The capacity of existing and potential transport infrastructure to support the

sustainable movement of waste, and products arising from resource recovery,

seeking when practicable and beneficial to use modes other than road transport,

and

• Give priority to the re-use of previously-developed land, and redundant agricultural

and forestry buildings and their curtilages.’

PPG13: Transport

Planning Policy Guidance 13 (PPG13) sets out the objectives to integrate planning and sets

out the objectives to integrate planning and transport at the national, regional, strategic and

local level and to promote more sustainable transport choices both for carrying people and for

moving freight. The Guidance states that ‘Local authorities should seek to ensure that

strategies in the development plan and the local transport plan are complementary:

consideration of development plan allocations and local transport priorities and investment

should be closely linked’. This role involves maximising the use of key sites located adjacent

to transport interchanges.

With regard to office uses (B1), it is stated that local authorities should adopt a positive,

planned approach to identifying preferred areas and sites for B1 uses which are (or will be) as

far as possible highly accessible by public transport, walking, and cycling. In addition, local

planning authorities are instructed to adopt a flexible approach to the use of dwellings for

home working to protect the amenity of the area for any neighbouring residential uses. For

warehousing and distribution uses (B8), the Guidance advocates that local authorities, should

aim to locate developments generating substantial freight, particularly bulk goods, away from

residential/central areas, and ensure adequate access to major trunk roads. Opportunities for

manufacturing (B2) and warehousing and distribution uses to be served by rail or waterways

should be promoted wherever possible.

3.3 Regional Policy

London Plan (2008)

The London Plan (March 2008 - Consolidated with Alterations since 2004) is the spatial

strategy for Greater London spanning the next fifteen to twenty years. It sets out an integrated

social, economic and environmental framework for the future development of London. The

relevant policies are stated below.

An overall strategic policy of the Plan provides London Boroughs with guidance on the

development of their local plans and states that such strategies should:

• Focus retail, leisure, key commercial activity and services in suburban metropolitan,

major, district and local town centres. Where such centres do not already have good

levels of public transport accessibility and capacity, improvements should be

promoted


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• Promote areas around suburban town centres that have good access by public

transport and on foot to the town centre as appropriate for higher-density and mixed-

use development including housing, and

• Improve the sustainability of suburban residential heartlands by promoting better

access to centres, employment and community facilities, improving the public realm,

making efficient use of space, and where appropriate, modernising or redeveloping

the housing stock.

Further to this, the London Plan divides London into sub-regions to facilitate the

implementation of its strategic policies. LB Croydon forms part of the South-West London Sub-

Region along with Lambeth, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, and the Royal Borough

of Kingston upon Thames. This sub-region Policy 5D.1 in the Plan sets out a number of

strategic priorities for South-West London and those particular to LB Croydon and the region.

These priorities aim to:

• ‘Strengthen economic linkages throughout the sub-region to the CAZ, especially in

terms of the supply chain, and take maximum advantage of the Strategic

Opportunity Areas on the southern fringe of the CAZ

• Promote the sub-region’s contribution to London’s world city role, especially in

relation to the Central Activities Zone including the London South Central

Opportunity Areas and strengthen linkages between CAZ and the rest of the sub-

region

• Optimise the development of Opportunity Areas and Areas for Intensification as set

out in Policies 5E.2 and 5E.3

• Further exploit the strength of the Metropolitan town centres and encourage

sensitive restructuring of some town centres to reflect changes in the office market

and the need for a range of economic activities and housing

• Manage the reuse of surplus industrial land taking into account waste management

requirements

• Consolidate the attractiveness of South West London by addressing areas in need

of regeneration and by improving the quality of the public realm

• Manage the reuse of surplus industrial land taking into account waste management

requirements

• Plan for and secure the necessary financial resources to deliver planned transport

infrastructure for the sub-region including strategic priorities: Crossrail 1, the East

London Line extension, DLR extensions, Thameslink Programme, improved bus

services, Greenwich Waterfront, Transit scheme, new river crossings, including the

Thames Gateway bridge and the Cross River Tram

• Promote improvements in the national rail network, which is of particular importance

in South West London, and the benefits to the sub-region of Crossrail 1, Thameslink

Programme, Cross River Tram, Tramlink extensions and the East London Line

extension and improvements to the Northern, District and Victoria lines

• Improve orbital movement by public transport, including Croydon Tramlink

extensions, and improve access to Heathrow


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• Ensure the sub-region is an attractive business location, and

• Support the strategic co-ordination of the development corridor from Croydon to

Gatwick and collaborate with SEERA, SEEDA and local authorities in the corridor.

Policy 5E.3 refers to Opportunity areas, such as Croydon Town Centre, in the South West

London sub-region and states that; ‘Taking account of other policies, developments will be

expected to maximise residential and non-residential densities and to contain mixed uses’.

Croydon town centre is recognised as an Opportunity Area in view of the scale of the

opportunities it offers, the strategic challenges it faces and the need for integrated action. The

policy considers the following sites in the Opportunity Area to be of strategic importance;

Fairfield Halls; Croydon College; Park Place and; the Whitgift extension.

An overall strategic policy of the Plan provides London Boroughs with guidance on the

development of their local plans and states that such strategies should:

• ‘Focus retail, leisure, key commercial activity and services in suburban metropolitan,

major, district and local town centres. Where such centres do not already have

good levels of public transport accessibility and capacity, improvements should be

promoted

• Promote areas around suburban town centres that have good access by public

transport and on foot to the town centre as appropriate for higher-density and mixed-

use development including housing, and

• Improve the sustainability of suburban residential heartlands by promoting better

access to centres, employment and community facilities, improving the public realm,

making efficient use of space, and where appropriate, modernising or redeveloping

the housing stock.’

The London Plan also defines the Strategic Industrial Location (SIL) framework as ‘intended to

reconcile the demand for, and supply of, productive industrial land in London’. The LB

Croydon contains two designated SILs: Purley Way and Marlpit Lane.

Consultation Draft Replacement London Plan (2009)

In October 2009, the Mayor of London published the ‘Consultation Draft Replacement London

Plan’. The document was open for consultation until the 5th January 2010. Formal publication

of the replacement plan is expected towards the end of 2011.

While the preparation of the Plan is ongoing, the ‘London Plan’ published in February 2008 will

be in force, and will have legal status until the replacement plan is formally published.

However, the ‘Consultation Draft Replacement London Plan’ will gather weight for

development control purposes further into the replacement process.

The overall thrust and direction, with regard to employment land, of the ‘Consultation Draft

Replacement London Plan’ is broadly similar to the current ‘London Plan’. Some degree of

greater protection is given to SILs, through more detailed guidance on their protection. Thus,

Policy 2.17, ‘Strategic Industrial Locations’ states that ‘Development proposals in SILs should

be refused unless they:

• Fall within the broad industrial type activities outlined in Paragraph 2.71

• Are part of a strategically coordinated process of SIL consolidation through an

Opportunity Area Planning Framework or borough DPD


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• Propose employment workspace to meet identified needs for small and medium

sized enterprises (SMEs) or new emerging industrial sectors; or

• Proposal small scale ‘walk to’ services for industrial occupiers such as workplace

crèches or cafes.

Policy 2.17 also states that ‘Development proposals within or adjacent to SILs should not

compromise the integrity or effectiveness of these locations in accommodating industrial type

activities’.

A key evidence base document for the Replacement London Plan is the 2010 London

Industrial Baseline Study, undertaken by URS/DTZ, being used to inform its forthcoming

Examination in Public (EIP) and as material consideration for planning applications on

industrial land.

GLA Industrial Capacity Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) (2008)

Originally published by the GLA in 2003, the Industrial Capacity SPG has been updated in

March 2008 following the publication of the London Plan - Consolidated with Alterations since

2004. The SPG defines industrial employment as activities relating to manufacturing and

wholesale distribution and seeks to:

• ‘Ensure that there is an adequate stock of industrial capacity to meet the future

needs and functional requirements of different types of industrial and related uses

(including waste management, logistics, utilities and transport functions) in different

parts of London, including that for good quality and affordable space; and

• Plan, monitor and manage the release of surplus industrial land so that it can better

contribute to strategic and local planning objectives, especially those to provide

more housing (including affordable housing) and, in appropriate locations, to provide

social infrastructure and to contribute to town centre’.

The SPG categorises LB Croydon is categorised as a borough for restricted transfer, which is

defined as ‘typically having low levels of industrial land relative to demand (particularly for

waste management or land for logistics) and/or low proportions of industrial land within the SIL

framework.’

The SPG highlights the success of the Strategic Industrial Locations (SIL)4 Framework in

protecting London’s principal industrial locations. At the same time, it recognises that the SIL

frameworks run the risk of being too successful and potentially maintaining land as industrial

when there is no longer demand for this use. However, the monitoring aspect of the approach

to maintaining industrial land could keep the framework in tune with market requirements and

broader planning objectives.

In reference to SILs, Policy 2 (SPG 2) states that ‘Boroughs and other partners are asked to:

• Promote the SILs as the prime locations for industrial activity in London

• Where relevant in their strategies, DPDs and other plans, identify the components of

the SIL framework namely the Preferred Industrial Locations and Industrial Business

Parks

4 Formerly ‘Strategic Employment Locations’ within the London Plan (2004)


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• Manage the differing offers of PILs and IBPs through coordinate investment,

regeneration initiatives, transport and environmental improvements and the use of

planning agreements, and provide local planning guidelines to meet the needs of

different types of industry appropriate to each having regard to paragraph 4.3, and

• Resist the development of non-industrial uses within the SIL other than as part of a

strategically coordinated process of consolidation (see Section 3) except where they

provide local, small scale, ‘walk to’ services for industrial occupiers e.g. workplace

crèches, or office space ancillary to industrial use.’

The study confirms that LB Croydon has two London Plan designated SILs – Purley Way and

Marlpit Lane – which both fall within the Preferred Industrial Location (PIL) sub-categorisation.

Policy 3 (SPG 3) addresses Locally Significant Industrial sites, which fall outside of the SIL

framework. Councils are advised to identify sites of particular local importance, which they

wish to enhance and protect for industrial uses, subject to robust strategic and local evidence

of demand and taking into account certain economic and land-use criteria. Once these sites

are identified on proposals maps they are awarded the same protection as those under the

SIL framework.

Also important to the situation in LB Croydon, Policy 4 (SPG 4) highlights the need for LPAs

‘to develop policies and criteria in DPDs to manage the release or retention of other smaller

industrial sites outside the SIL framework and not designated on Proposals Maps, Boroughs

are asked to take account of strategic and local assessments of supply and demand

(paragraphs 3.2 to 3.18) and have regard to the qualitative criteria in paragraphs 4.11 to 4.13’.

Industrial and Warehousing Land Demand in London, (2004)

The GLA and LDA commissioned this study in December 2004 with the specific purpose ‘to

assess the scale and nature and, in particular, the [geographical] distribution of future demand

for industrial and warehousing land in London and to draw policy implications’.

The study set out to accomplish two key tasks:

• To assess the balance of demand and supply for industrial and warehousing land,

testing the earlier estimate that some 50 hectares per year London-wide could be

released to other uses, and providing guidance for individual sub-regions and

Boroughs.

• To provide a description of current and future requirements for warehousing space,

and recommend strategic planning policies for meeting these requirements over the

next 15 years, translating into practical recommendations in the draft SPGs that

planning should take a positive approach to logistics and distribution.

The study highlights that the occupiers of industrial and warehousing land are drawn from a

wider spread of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) sectors than the traditionally used

manufacturing and wholesale distribution. Many businesses use warehouses and industrial

land to conduct their activities including: transport and storage, construction, recycling and

refuse disposal. This study takes account of this change and has forecasted a slower

reduction5 in the demand for industrial/warehousing land as many of these sectors have better

prospects of employment growth than the traditional manufacturing sector.

5 Compared to the previous study Demand and Supply of Business Space in London.


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London Office Policy Review 2009

The purpose of the annual London Office Policy Review (LOPR) is to provide planning policy

makers with up to date information on the supply and demand for offices in London, including

the planning pipeline, and to provide analysis of the operation of the office market and its

relationship with planning policy.

The main findings of the report were that despite the ‘volte face’ experienced in the market

during late 2007 and 2008, the impacts felt are still considered to be part of cyclical patterns of

demand that characterise the market. It does however identify that actual structural changes in

the market are taking place, in particular, and of relevance to Croydon, is the emergence of

polycentricity in the Outer London (OL) area and the marginalisation of some OL centres.

Another relevant issue highlighted in the study is the rationalisation of public sector office

requirements and its potential impact on centres which rely on these occupiers, to some

extent, to bolster their commercial office supply – of relevance to Croydon. New working

patterns, characterised by a greater number of employees working from home, is also

identified as having an impact on the demand for office floorspace.

The study reports that the LB Croydon contains 749,000 sqm of office floorspace, which is the

third highest concentration of the Outer London boroughs. In reference to the CMC itself, the

study describes it as ‘a very large and well established business centre, with the largest office

stock outside the CAZ. However, since the early-1990s, its story has been somewhat one of

stagnation with, more recently, sustained efforts to bring about a distinctly overdue upgrade to

the built stock.’ It identifies the CMC as being a centre with a case for encouraging office led

development in the next cycle.

The study concurs with all the conclusions made by the Outer London Commission (OLC) in

2009, which includes the recommended designation of Croydon (and Stratford) as Strategic

Office areas.

The Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy for Greater London (2009)

On 12 October 2009, the Mayor of London published a new draft Economic Development

Strategy (EDS) for public consultation. The purpose of the Strategy is to provide relevant

stakeholders, public authorities and interested parties, with a vision for London’s future, an

analysis of the economy and policy directions for achieving its ambitions; and to clarify roles

and responsibilities with other partners who make a major contribution to developing London’s

economy.

The Economic Development Strategy (EDS) is framed around five central objectives, which

are;

• “Promote London as a city that excels as a world capital of business

• Ensure that it has the most competitive business environment in the world drive London’s

transition to a low carbon economy and maximise the opportunities this will create

• Give all Londoners the opportunity to take part in London’s economic success, access

sustainable employment and progress in their careers; and

• Maximise the benefits to London from investment to support growth and regeneration, and

from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and its legacy.”


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3.4 Local Policy

LB Croydon Unitary Development Plan (2006)

The LB Croydon adopted their Unitary Development Plan (UDP) on 13th July 2006. Along with

the Mayor’s London Plan (2008), this forms the borough’s principal statutory Development

Plan. Under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the LB Croydon are to replace

the existing UDP with a Local Development Framework (LDF), consisting of a number Local

Development Documents (LDDs).

Whilst acknowledging the importance of sectors such as leisure, shopping, tourism and hotels,

the UDP emphasises that the majority of Croydon’s economic activity takes place within

offices, industrial and warehousing premises. As an employment location, the Borough’s

strengths are identified as being its proximity to Central London, access to key transport

linkages i.e. motorways and international airports, and its skilled labour supply. These

characteristics enable the Borough to attract strong wealth creating activities, research and

development functions, high quality office stock, high technology manufacturing and other

modern growth sectors such as ICT infrastructure, creative and media, and

environmental/green industries.

Policy EM1, states that ‘Development for Class B1(a) offices will be permitted within Croydon

Metropolitan Centre and the Town Centres shown on the Proposals Map‘ and that these

locations are the Plan’s preferred location for these uses. Outside these areas, such

development will only be permitted where;

• ‘The need for the development has been demonstrated and the development cannot

be accommodated within the defined centres

• The site is, or is capable of being, well served by public transport and easily

accessible on foot or by bicycle; and

• The site is well connected to the defined centre and has the potential for linked trips.’

In relation to industrial (B1b/c and B2) and warehousing (B8) uses within the defined

Employment Areas, Policy EM2 states ‘planning permission will not be granted for a change

of use from uses within Classes B1(b), B1(c), B2 or B8 unless uses within these Classes

create unacceptable environmental or traffic problems or unless the proposal is for;

• A Sui Generis use, which would,

• generate employment which is quantitatively and qualitatively comparable to uses

within those Classes; and

• not harm the continuation of existing uses within those Classes; or

• a change of use from Sui Generis uses to Class B1(b), B1(c), B2 or B8 or to a sui

generis use which would,

� generate employment which is quantitatively and qualitatively comparable

to uses within those Classes; and

� not harm the continuation of existing uses within those Classes.’

Policy EM2 also states that ‘any new use within an Employment Area will not be permitted if it

would prejudice the use of adjacent employment sites for any uses with Classes B1(b), B1(c),

B2 or B8.’


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The UDP aims to ensure that industrial and warehousing uses are concentrated in the most

appropriate areas to guard against causing adverse environmental impacts and compromising

residential amenity. Recognising this, Policy EM3 states that ‘Outside the Employment Areas

shown on the Proposals Map development within Use Classes B1(b), B1(c), B2 or B8 will only

be permitted if it is less than 500 square metres.’

Small-scale office (B1a) developments are considered acceptable uses in District and Local

Centres subject to conditions, with Policy EM4 stating that ‘development within Use Class

B1(a) will only be permitted in these areas if it is less than 500 square metres and provided

that the scheme does not result in any of the following:

• Any significant adverse traffic impacts; or

• Any significant adverse effect on residential amenity or on the environment; or

• No net loss of satisfactory dwellings or housing land; or

• No loss of any relevant Use Class A1 –A5 protected under policies SH4 or SH5; or

• No loss of necessary community facilities’.

The UDP recognises that industrial and warehousing uses outside the designated

Employment Areas provide residents with the opportunity to live and work locally, and

contribute significantly to the economic health of the Borough. Policy EM5 protects such sites

by ensuring that release to non-industrial uses only occurs where;

• ‘The existing use materially harms residential amenity; or


employment use; and


• The proposed use would not prejudice the continued use of adjacent employment

sites.’

In reference to Cane Hill – a Major Developed Site in the Green Belt – Policy EM8 states that

‘Planning permission will be granted for a Science and Business Innovation Park….provided

that it conforms to the requirements of Policy RO7.’

LB Croydon Local Development Framework Core Strategy - ‘Towards a Preferred

Option’

In line with the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the Core

Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD) for the LB of Croydon is being prepared for

inclusion in the Local Development Framework (LDF) for the Borough. This is currently at the

‘Preferred Options’ stage (‘Towards a Preferred Option’), which identifies the issues to be

included in the Core Strategy such as affordable housing and protection of industrial land.

Public consultation on the Preferred Options took place for six weeks from 8th February to 23

rd

March 2010.

Croydon Vision (2008)

This document sets out the vision for Croydon in 2040. The vision describes a city with six

core themes: enterprise, learning; creativity; connections; sustainability, and; caring.


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As an ‘Enterprising City’, the vision is for the borough to be a ‘hotspot of knowledge, creativity

and innovation’. The borough’s wider influence will grow so that it complements both its

London and Gatwick offers, and becomes a location for enterprises engaged in high-growth

sectors, taking fresh advantage of a new and dynamic skills base in the borough. The vision

proposes that enterprise centres and incubator units will be at the economic heart of

neighbourhoods, providing space for a creative and innovative business environment to

flourish.

Croydon Economic Development Strategy (2008)

In 2007/08, LB Croydon and the Croydon Local Strategic Partnership produced an Economic

Development Strategy (EDS) to form the strategic framework for the future economic

development of the borough.

The study highlighted several issues facing the local economy, notably: declining employment;

a high degree of reliance on the public sector; low rates of new business survival; and a

decline in the prosperity of knowledge-based sectors (though there the creative sector was

identified as buoyant).

The EDS drew out several strategic themes and intervention requirements: diversification of

the business base; improvement to the quality of the business environment; enhanced

external connectivity; town centre and external linkages; improvements to economic inclusion

and skills; attracting investment and improving image.

The office market was noted to contain a disproportionate amount of older stock (pre 1980’s).

The CMC was seen as suffering from having a poor image, characterised by tired looking

buildings and a lack of coherency – with Wellesley Road ‘cutting the town in two’. New

commercial space in the borough’s District centres was acknowledged as important for wider

regeneration in the borough.

The development pipeline carried the potential for realising significant investment and urban

renewal; however delays in the pipeline thus far, such as the failure to develop the East

Croydon Station site, were seen as a threat to achieving this.

Draft Economic Development Strategy Refresh (2009)

A draft ‘refreshed’ Economic Development strategy was produced in December 2009, for the

period 2010-2012, in order to take account of and address new challenges facing residents

and businesses created by the economic downturn. The refreshed strategy is primarily

focused on LB Croydon’s objective to position the borough, over the long term, as a major

economic centre within London and within the Gatwick Diamond area.

The refreshed strategy highlights three areas for intervention:

• Jobs, employability and skills

• Enterprise and innovation; and

• Inward investment.

As such the strategy is framed around the need to create the conditions necessary to raise

education and skills attainment, enhance entrepreneurship and attract new enterprise and

grow existing firms. To achieve this it aims to build upon the already well established status of

Croydon as a regional base for businesses by continuing to attract financial and insurance

service business HQ’s to the area. It also aims to capitalise, and further develop, on the


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presence of major construction and engineering firms in the Borough, in order to create high-

skilled and learning opportunities and foster a sustainable economic base for the borough.

Already a key location for public administration, and related occupiers (accounting for a third of

all jobs in Croydon), the strategy seeks to promote the borough as a cost-efficient alternative

location to central London for these functions.

Cane Hill is identified as potential a site for a new specialist innovation park with ‘integrated

multiversity learning facilities on site’. The location is said to be suitable for national and

international businesses as it is accessible to Gatwick airport.

The strategy also highlights the potential to create a ‘Gatwick metropolitan area’ offer. Given

Croydon’s proximity to Gatwick airport and the potential for increased commercial route

development over the next decade there is said to be a real opportunity to position Croydon as

the preferred ‘airport city’ for businesses that need international connectivity and want the

benefits of being in London.

In relation to other non-B class employment generating land uses, the Strategy recognises

Croydon’s status as a primary retail, leisure and cultural destination for south London. It is

noted that the town centre and sites in the Purley Way area combined provide some 375,000

sqm of retail space, which is the largest retail offer outside of central London and generates

over 16,000 jobs.

Croydon Metropolitan Centre Area Action Plan - Issues & Options Report (2008)

An Area Action Plan (AAP) for the CMC was formerly being prepared but a Preferred Options

Report was put on hold in January 2009, although the evidence base for it will help inform both the

Core Strategy and, if progressed, the CMC Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF).

The CMC AAP Issues and Options Report sets out an overall vision for the area for 2021. The

aspects of this vision, in relation to office, industrial and warehousing land are;

• ‘To be a centre of diversity and distinction which everyone wants to visit, work in, invest

and do business in; be firmly established as London's third City Centre - the main city

centre in the South East south of the Thames for business and employment and training;

and

• Be a City Centre with many different functions satisfying virtually all of the needs of all of

the local community for public and private services, and employment facilities.’

Among the relevant issues raised included; how the CMC might capitalise on its position as a

Strategic Office location by encouraging new Grade A modern office buildings, whilst still meeting

the requirements of small local firms; whether or not small workshops and warehouses should be

provided for in the CMC area, and; how the AAP could help establish a Cultural Quarter in the area.

Purley Town Centre Regeneration SPG (2004)

The Purley Town Centre Regeneration Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) was

adopted by the Council in April 2004 and amended in November of the same year. The

purpose of the SPG was to install a framework for the future development of the Town Centre

and to ensure that changes to the Town Centre fit with the objectives for the area set out in the

Regeneration Strategy.

In terms of land-use, the SPG supports and encourages mixed-use development, specifically

requiring an increase in local housing stock and retail opportunities. Live-work units are

encouraged in appropriate areas to help provide active street frontages.


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Core Strategy Evidence Base Documents

As the Core Strategy is being developed, the Council is continuing to gather evidence, which

will support and guide the development of both the LDF and Core Strategy. A number of the

evidence documents have been made available, and have been reviewed here.

Annual Monitoring Reports

The AMR measures the progress of planning policies towards targets and objectives between

April and March the following year. The findings of the two most recent monitoring reports are

worth considering:

The LB Croydon Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) 2007-2008 notes that, overall, there was a

net loss of 13,023 sqm of B use class floorspace in the borough during the period.

Newly completed industrial (B1b/c, B2 and B8) floorspace totalled 5,087 sqm, which was 50%

higher than in 2006/7 and all of which was light-industrial (B1c) floorspace. There was no loss

of designated employment land. It was estimated that 13.4% of the total floorspace in

designated Employment Areas was vacant. For office (B1a) floorspace a net loss of 5,708

sqm was recorded for the monitoring period, with 1,660 sqm of new floorspace being

completed.

The 2008-2009 LB Croydon AMR notes that between April 2008 and March 2009 there was a

net loss of 11,648 sqm B class use floorspace.

The completion of 8,946 sqm of new industrial floorspace was almost entirely within

designated employment areas and were for B2 and B8 uses. A change of use from B class to

retail (A1) use at a large site outside a designated Employment Areas, leads the Report to

state that that ‘this policy (EM5) is not protecting employment uses’. For office (B1a)

floorspace a net loss of 4,920 sqm was recorded for the monitoring period, despite the

completion of 8,248 sqm of new floorspace. There is also 24,317 sqm of B1a floorspace with

permitted planning permission in the CMC and Town Centres.

The AMRs show that since April 2007, there has been a net loss of 24,671 sqm of B use class

floorspace in the borough.

LB Croydon Retail Needs Study (2008)

In 2008, Croydon Council appointed Drivers Jonas to carry out a Retail Study to inform and

act as evidence base for the identification of issues and options and the selection of preferred

options required for preparation of both the Core Strategy DPD and Site Allocations DPD and

to enable the Council to make informed choices about the nature and extent of retail growth to

be accommodated within the borough in the future.

The Study identifies that current national trends in retailing are; continued polarisation towards

a smaller number of larger centres; the decline of the small convenience shop; continued

growth in the out-of-town retail offer and; increase in internet and mail order shopping. It notes

that these are the key trends that should be taken into account when planning for new retail

development in the Borough.

The findings of the study are mainly specific to the individual major and district town centre

areas, but in general the Study concludes that; outside the CMC, the primary purpose of the

centres is for convenience goods shopping; and there is a general shortage of retail sites,

particularly in the north of the Borough. The Study also recommends to the Council that they

downgrade Norbury from an identified Town Centre to a District Centre.


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Croydon Metropolitan Centre Retail Strategy (2009)

In 2009, LB Croydon appointed Drivers Jonas to assist the Council in reconsidering the retail

strategy for CMC, with particular reference to the need and opportunity to provide new retail

floorspace. The requirement for a Strategy originated from the failure of the Park Place

scheme to be developed and was then exacerbated by fragility in the market precipitated by

the economic downturn.

A key conclusion of the study was that Croydon has something a negative image, which

affects its standing and perception as a place to shop, and, at least anecdotally, this would

appear to cause occupiers to favour competing centres such as Bromley and Kingston,

Another conclusion was that although Croydon Centre contains a large amount of retail

floorspace, parts of the centre are underperforming in this respect and would benefit from

fresh investment. Complex land ownership within the centre is also seen as being an issue

and that, the study believes, the Council may be able to play a more important role in

facilitating land assembly. The study does confirm that Croydon is the largest shopping centre

in South London and continues to receive interest from large retailers.

Housing Briefing Note on Residential Development Potential in Croydon between 2009

and 2031

The council’s briefing note on residential development potential in Croydon between 2009 and

2031 provides estimates of the completions of new homes in Croydon over the period.

Outside of the OAPF area the data is based on the 2009 GLA Strategic Housing Land

Availability (SHLAA) data. Within the OAPF area the data is modelled (except for the number

of homes ‘under construction’) and is based on work on perimeter blocks previously done for

the former CMC Area Action Plan.

There are two scenarios for each time period:

1) 2011 to 2021: The CMC will continue to be a major location for offices in South London;

and the office market declines in the CMC declines and space is converted to residential

use

2) 2021 to 2031: The CMC continues to be a major location for offices in South London and

there is a lower rate of development on small sites and 800 homes in New Addington and

Fieldway; and there is a decline by half of the office floorspace in Croydon assumes and

that there are an additional 800 homes in New Addington and Fieldway

Under these scenarios the total housing projections are: 13,054; 15,144; 9,020; and 12,250

respectively.

At the time of writing, work is being undertaken on a housing typology study to assess the

potential for residential buildings in the CMC. It will be important to consider how the demand

and supply characteristics of employment land and other uses such as housing and retail can

be accommodated to plan for a vibrant CMC, and meet the needs of businesses and residents

alike.

Deprivation is not confined to Inner London and the index of multiple deprivation (IMD) 2007

reveals areas or pockets of deprivation in some Outer London boroughs such as LB Croydon,

which has the highest forms of deprivation within wards scattered to the north and south east

of the borough. New Addington holds is the most deprived super output area, which is in the


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top 5% most deprived area. The CMC area lies across Fairfield and to a lesser extent east

Broad Green and west Addiscombe.

Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI)

LB Croydon is recognised as one of the UK’s largest local economies and recent years have

seen growth yet a gap in prosperity remains between the borough and much of South London,

especially in terms of small business growth. Such growth is deemed to be dependent on the

development of a buoyant start-up sector whereas LB Croydon currently has a comparatively

weak small business and entrepreneurial culture in relation to surrounding areas.

Croydon Strategic Partnership was successful in the first round of the Local Enterprise Growth

Initiative (LEGI) in gaining funding for the development of its small business base and wider

entrepreneurship in the borough. The original fund of £77 million, to be spent over ten years,

was designed to remove barriers and market failures that inhibit small businesses and

entrepreneurship. There three core objectives of the LEGI programme were to: increase the

entrepreneurial potential of key target groups in North West Croydon and New Addington ;

support the creation of new businesses, the sustainable growth of existing businesses and

reduce the failure rate of locally-owned business in North West Croydon and New Addington –

Fieldway; and attract inward investment and franchising into the North West Croydon and New

Addington areas, making use of local labour sources.6

The first year of delivery was focused on the neighbourhood renewal areas of North West

Croydon and Fieldway and New Addington. North West Croydon accounts for the following

wards: Norbury, Upper Norwood, Thornton Heath, South Norwood, Bensham Manor, West

Thornton, Woodside, Broad Green, Selhurst, Waddon, Addiscombe and Ashburton. Two

outlying estates were also included: Shrublands, in Shirley, and Monk’s Hill, in Heathfield.

Croydon businesses and individuals from outside the target areas were eligible for support,

but the priority was clients from the deprived areas.

When funding was un-ringfenced and subsequently became part of the Area Based Grant, it

was determined that a focus on communities furthest away from mainstream economic

activity, rather than strict geographical boundaries, would better meet the priorities of the

borough. Since 2008, LEGI has been a borough-wide programme with services available to

all residents and businesses based in Croydon, with a focus on engaging people from

deprived areas and key target groups: BME communities, older people aged 50yrs+, women,

young people aged 18-24, NEETs, people with disabilities, people on long-term benefits.

More recently, since 2009, LEGI has formed part of the Area Based Grant (ABG) which

includes a range of funding streams received from central government departments. In-year

savings to the ABG were announced in early June this year, including a 23% reduction to

LEGI revenue resources for 2010/11. Accordingly, the Council is currently reviewing the

impact to ABG locally and the final internal allocation to the LEGI programme will be

determined during summer 2010.

In the context of the current economic downturn and the required in-year savings, LEGI capital

programmes are currently on hold, subject to a review of available resources, suitability of

schemes, and sustainability of the investment plan.

6 LB Croydon Baseline, Targets & Monitoring Performance (2006)


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Croydon Metropolitan Centre Masterplans

There are five masterplans proposed within the LB Croydon’s Town Centre. This ambition is

determined in Third City Vision (after Westminster and the City of London, Croydon city district

is the third largest population centre), which is the result of the work of architect Will Alsop in

consultation with the inhabitants of Croydon.

Currently there are five masterplan within the CMC7, which in total could provide for 156,070

sqm8:

1. East Croydon Masterplan 1 (Draft Final Report 6th May 2010) comprising 273,755

sqm, of which 146,620 sqm is proposed for office

2. Mid Croydon Masterplan, comprising 85,000 sqm, of which 9,000 sqm is office

3. West Croydon Masterplan (Draft report 30th March 2010) comprising 51,470 sqm, of

which 450 sqm is office

4. College Green Masterplan (Final Draft plus forward issue, 19th April, 2010) comprising

35,602 sqm with no space proposed for office; and

5. Wellesley Road and Park Lane (at concept stage in April 2010), comprising 36,500

sqm and proposals to reconsider the use of the CMC main road, which currently

separates the town centre, into a lively and liveable centre.

The draft masterplan proposals indicate the potential for 156,070 sqm of office floorspace to

come forward within the planning period. The masterplans therefore have the potential to bring

about create significant economic and societal benefits.

Other Relevant Documents and Programmes

Croydon Office Market Review (2007)

In 2007, PACEC, in association with Knight Frank LLP were commissioned by LB Croydon

and Croydon Enterprise to undertake an office market assessment, to ‘provide evidence to

inform the Issues and Options stage in the preparation of the Croydon Metropolitan Centre

Area Action Plan. The study is also likely to be extended to provide evidence required for the

preparation of other of Croydon’s development plan documents (DPD), such as the Core

Strategy and Site Allocation DPDs.’

The review notes the key features of Croydon to be well provided transport access with well-

qualified labour markets and good access to markets, however, the quality of office stock is

generally perceived to be poor, with a disproportionate amount dating from pre-1970s, and

also that the image of Croydon as a business location is currently poor.

In terms of supply and demand, the report identified that the future supply of sites amounted to

between 255,000 sqm and 368,000 sqm of floorspace. The lack of development at the East

Croydon Station site was reported to be causing a supply ‘bottleneck’ for new space in the

CMC. Three floorspace demand forecasts were produced to estimate future demand in LB

Croydon: baseline, unconstrained and partially-constrained forecasts – the former and latter

forecasts being based on the GLA 2006 employment projections data (Economic Current

7 Figures as per correspondence with the Council, 8

th June 2010

8 As per email from the Council, 11

th June 2010


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Issues Note 13). Over the planning period (2006 – 2026), the review forecasts a range of

estimates for total future employment in offices – from 52,400 to 65,100 (baseline and

unconstrained). This translates as a net floorspace requirement of between 48,200 sqm and

213,600 sqm.

Industrial/Warehousing Land/Premises Market Assessment (2008)

In 2008, as part of the preparation for its Core Strategy, Site Allocations and Development

Control DPDs (Development Plan Documents), LB Croydon, with the assistance of South

London Business, Kingston University and Stiles Harold Williams, produced an Industrial and

Warehousing Land/Premises Market Assessment. Whilst the Development Plan period

(relating to the Core Strategy) lasts until 2026, the scope of the Assessment was limited to

forecasting demand and supply up until 2015.

The assessment concluded that there was 754,100 sqm of industrial/warehouse premises

floorspace and 155,991 sqm of land in Croydon. 16% of the Borough’s industrial floorspace

was lost to non-industrial uses between 1998 and 2006, and that there is increasing pressure

from uses providing little in the way of employment benefit – particularly self-storage – in

designated employment areas. Two positive factors identified in the assessment were the

steady growth in industrial/warehousing rents and better frictional availability than in

neighbouring boroughs, i.e. Richmond-upon-Thames and Bromley.

In terms of market demand for land/premises, the assessment notes a slight drop in demand,

a strong increase in take-up, and a large fall in availability of premises, since 2000.

Considered together, this pointed to there being a healthy level of demand, with demand

possibly beginning to outstrip supply.

The study projected that supply would decline by approximately 34,000 sqm by 2015, as a

result of change of use. Taking account of a positive demand forecasted for premises under

the mid-point scenario, a shortfall of 82,665 sqm was forecast. The assessment concluded

that there are very few opportunities, in terms of development sites, to enable the

development of new stock. It also concludes that the emerging LDF policy position needs to

take this into account.

3.5 Summary

At a national level, several PPSs and PPGs highlight the need to plan land-use efficiently and

in a way that is conducive to sustainable economic development. PPS4 emphasises the need

to be flexible in catering for B use class needs and that Local Planning Authorities (LPAs)

should plan for new and emerging sectors and sectors that they wish to attract to their

authority. To ensure that producers of waste are located close to processing facilities, PPS10

sets out a number of criteria that LPAs should consider when allocating land for these

purposes.

Key regional policy on employment land-use is contained in the London Plan (2008) and GLA

Industrial Capacity SPG (2008). The London Plan sets out its vision for the South-West

London sub-region, of which LB Croydon is a part, which centres around; optimising the

development of its Opportunity Areas; exploit the strength of the Metropolitan town centres;

managing the release of surplus industrial land and; planning effectively for transport

improvements.

Defining industrial employment as activities relating to manufacturing and wholesale

distribution, the GLA’s Industrial Capacity SPG (2008) seeks to ensure that an adequate stock


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of land for industrial use remains whilst the release of surplus industrial land is monitored and

managed, so planning objectives can be met effectively. The SPG categorises LB Croydon as

a borough for ‘Restricted Transfer’ as it has a low level of industrial land relative to demand.

Both the SPG and London Plan establish that there are two SIL areas in LB Croydon; Purley

Way9 and Marlpit Lane. Policy 3 of the SPG also highlights the need to protect ‘Locally

Significant Industrial’ sites.

At a local level, the evidence base for Croydon’s LDF is currently being prepared and the Core

Strategy DPD is currently at the Preferred Options Stage. As a result the Croydon

Replacement Unitary Development Plan (UDP) adopted in 2006 is the Borough’s principal

statutory Development Plan.

LB Croydon recognises that it has not fulfilled its economic potential over the past decade.

Documents such as the borough’s Economic Development Strategy and the Croydon Vision

highlight aspirations for the city to become a major economic centre within London and the

south east. The borough’s geographic position lends itself to being a cost efficient alternative

location to central London, and the centre is an attractive location for back office operations,

such as financial services. Croydon’s economic future cannot rely solely upon its locational

advantages. The EDS recognises the importance of developing a workforce that holds the

skills, knowledge and flexibility to underpin enterprise development, attract higher value

industries and raise the wealth creation and earning potential of local residents and

businesses.

There is need to promote new inward investment opportunities, through major sites in the

CMC (in particular the masterplans); other outer-CMC locations such as Cane Hill; and build

business diversity in the borough through the provision of employment land in local, district

and town centres, which can support local business.

9 Local planning policy further refines the Purley Way area into Purley Way North and Purley Way South.


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4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

To fully understand the economic potential the LB Croydon, it is necessary to take into

account the current socio-economic characteristics of the borough. This section profiles the

borough population, deprivation levels and distribution, industrial structure, enterprise and the

labour market structure. By doing so we begin to identify some of the opportunities and

constraints, which could impact upon the demand and supply for employment land. Data for

Croydon is benchmarked against Greater London and the UK for direct comparison.

4.2 Population

Demand for housing, retail, community facilities and employment sites and premises will be

driven in part by population. Between 1991 and 2008 Croydon’s population increased by 8.2%

to 341,800. This growth rate is slower than that of London, which over the same period grew

by 11.6% but greater than that of Great Britain which grew by 6.8% respectively. Forecasts by

the GLA show that Croydon’s population is expected to be 11% higher in 2031 than in 2008.

The implication is that there is likely to be a growth in demand for land for housing, community

facilities, infrastructure and employment land over the LDF plan period.

Key population characteristics of the borough residents are set out in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1: Summary of Population Characteristics

LB Croydon (%) Greater London (%) Great Britain (%)

Ag

e G

rou

ps

0-19

20-59

60-74

75+

22.1

55.8

5.5

6.7

23.9

60.4

7.2

8.5

24.1

54.1

10.2

11.7

Te

nu

re Owner Occupied

Council or RSL

Private Rented

68.7

16.8

12.2

56.5

26.2

14.3

68.7

19.3

8.8

So

cia

l G

rou

p *

AB

C1

C2

DE

25.4

35.8

12.1

26.5

26.5

33.0

11.0

29.5

22.2

29.7

15.1

33.0

Source: ONS MYE 2009 and Census 2001 AB = Upper and middle class (Higher managerial, administrative or professional) C1 = Lower middle class (Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional) C2 = Skilled working class (Skilled manual workers) DE = Working class OR those at lowest level of subsistence (Semi and unskilled manual workers OR Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the state for their income)

With regard to home ownership, it can be seen from Table 4.1, that 16.8% of residents in the

LB Croydon are tenants of Council or Registered Social Landlords (RSL), which is below the

average of 26.2% for London and also below the average of 19.3% for England. In addition


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68.7% of the population are owner-occupiers, which is significantly lower than the London

average of 56.5%.

Table 4.1 also shows that LB Croydon has a large proportion of its population classed within

the C1 social-group, which is higher than the average of 33.0% for London, and of England

(29.7%). However, while the percentage of the population classed within the higher AB social-

groups in the borough is 25.4%, this is lower compared with the average of 26.2% for London,

but higher compared with the national average of 22.2%. 26.5% of the borough’s population

were classed in the lower DE social groups in 2001, which was lower than both the average

for London and Great Britain respectively.

4.3 Deprivation

The picture of education skills and training deprivation corresponds closely to the map of IMD.

Three super output areas (SOAs) within LB Croydon fall in the top five per cent of the nations

most deprived SOAs. The level of education, skills and training achievement is linked with

income and employment attainment, and deprivations for all correspond closely. Income

deprivation levels are pronounced - indicative of a lower-wage workplace economy. The

highest employment deprivation occurs in New Addington, Broad Green, South Norwood and

Upper Norwood. The theme of ‘Jobs, Employability and Skills’ is a leading priority of the

Economic Development Refresh10

, which states the importance ‘to drive up adult skills levels

and raise the competitiveness of Croydon residents in the local and London employment

market.’ (p. 8).

10 Economic Strategy Refresh 2010 – 2012, Draft Version 4 15 December 2009


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Figure 4.1: Croydon Index of Multiple Deprivation

Source: Croydon Observatory, ONS IMD2007


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4.4 Labour Market Structure

Business investment decisions are typically based on the availability of land / sites, capital and

labour. Below we consider the labour market by profiling the broad occupational breakdown,

earnings and the travel to work catchment of residents.

Occupational Structure

In terms of occupational structure, statistics indicate that approximately 47.1% of the working

population in Croydon, are employed in managerial, professional and associate professional

occupations, which is lower than the rest of London at 53.7% and higher than Great Britain at

43.9%. This is presented in Table 4.2 below.

In 2009, 218,600 people in the LB Croydon (equivalent to 63.9% of the population) were of

working age11

, compared with 66.9% in London and 62.0% nationally. Approximately 189,400

were economically active (equivalent to 80.9% of the working age population), which is a

higher proportion compared to 75.8% for London and 78.9% nationally. In addition 85.5% of

males were economically active, while 76.1% of females were economically active.

Earnings by Resident

In 2009 the average gross weekly earnings for LB Croydon residents is £566.70, which is

approximately £32 lower than the London average of £598.60, and £76 higher than the rest of

Great Britain. This has increased by £105.50 since 2002, an increase of 22% (directly

comparable to 21% in London and 22% nationally). Residents’ of LB Croydon earn more than

those people who work in LB Croydon (by £37 per week). This earnings differential implies

that the LB Croydon economy is a comparatively lower earnings economy and as such

residents commute out of the borough to access better paid jobs. See Table 4.3.

Travel to Work

Croydon has excellent transport links and a large labour catchment area, which put it in a

favourable position within South London with regards to customer accessibility, supply chain

dynamics and competitive advantage. Using ‘Travel to Work’ data from the 2001 Census it is

possible to extrapolate the percent of workforce in terms of method of travel, as shown in

Table 4.4.

The majority of Croydon’s residents work in the borough itself, 78,408 (54.8%), according to

Travel to Work. Of out-commuters, 10,580 (7.4%) residents work in Westminster, and 10,580

(4.7%) work in Lambeth.

The above text refers to the three tables overleaf.

11 The working-age population refers to men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.


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Table 4.2: Employment by Occupation

Croydon

(numbers)

Croydon

(%)

London

(%)

Great Britain

(%)

Managers and senior officials 27,000 15.6 17.8 15.7

Professional occupations 21,600 12.5 17.1 13.4

Associate professional & technical 32,800 19.0 18.8 14.8

Administrative & secretarial 24,000 13.9 11.1 11.2

Skilled trades occupations 16,000 9.2 7.6 10.4

Personal service occupations 16,500 9.5 7.1 8.5

Sales and customer service 12,500 7.2 6.1 7.5

Process plant & machine

operatives 8,000 4.6 4.6 6.8

Elementary occupations 13,900 8.0 9.2 11.3

Source: ONS annual population survey, 2009

Table 4.3: Average Gross Weekly Earnings

Borough / Comparator Average Gross Weekly

Earnings:

Residents

Average Gross Weekly

Earnings:

Workplace

LB Croydon £566.70 £529.60

London £598.60 £627.40

Great Britain £491.00 £490.20

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2009

Table 4.4: Travel to Work, LB Croydon Residents

Method of Travel Number of People % Workforce

Driving a car or van / passenger in car or

van

67,918 43.4

Train 32,819 20.9

Bus, minibus or coach 18,259 11.7

Works mainly at or from home 13,372 8.5

On foot 12,705 8.1

Underground, metro, light rail or tram 6,553 4.2

Motorcycle, scooter or moped 2,031 1.3

Bicycle 1,615 1

Other 713 0.5

Taxi or minicab 756 0.5

Total 156,741 100

Source: Neighbourhood Statistics, Census 2001


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Qualifications

As of December 2008, the workforce in LB Croydon was slightly more qualified than the

London average, with 89% of individuals holding a qualification (compared to 88% in Greater

London). However, only 33.7% of the population have a degree or higher degree, which is

lower than the average for London which is 39%. This is shown in Table 4.5 below

Table 4.5: Qualifications

Croydon

(numbers)

Croydon

(%)

London

(%)

Great Britain

(%)

NVQ4 and above 73,200 33.7 38.6 29.0

NVQ3 and above 110,800 51.0 51.6 47.0

NVQ2 and above 145,000 66.8 63.8 65.2

NVQ1 and above 174,900 80.6 73.7 78.9

Other qualifications 17,200 7.9 14.2 8.7

No qualifications 24,900 11.5 12.0 12.4

Source: ONS Annual Population Survey 2008

Unemployment

The October 2008- September 2009 annual population survey shows that the unemployment

rate in LB Croydon was 8.1% (15,300), which is slightly lower than that of London (8.4%) and

higher than that of Great Britain (7.4%). This is the highest rate of unemployment witnessed in

the borough since February 1997 and has increased from the July 2007 – June 2008 figure of

5.1%.

As of April 2010, there were 9,588 claimants of Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA), equivalent to

4.4% of the working age population, which is equal to the London average (4.4%) and greater

than the Great Britain (4.1%) average.

There are 42,000 (19.1%) people considered to be economically inactive in the borough, and

of these 12,400 (29.5%) are looking for work, with 29,600 (70.5%) not seeking employment.

These figures are lower in comparison to London where economic inactivity is reported for

24.2% of the working age population.

4.5 Company Size and Registration

This section details the number and size of businesses in the LB Croydon, and recent

changes in the stock businesses with LB Croydon as their place of VAT registration.

Business Size

Small businesses contribute significantly to employment within the borough, with 10,899

companies employing between one and ten employees, comprising 87% of the 12,775

companies registered within the borough and accounting for 26,598 employees. The

proportion of SMEs in the economy is similar to that of both London and Great Britain, where

they account for 85% and 87% of businesses respectively.

While large companies employing more than 200 people number only 86, equivalent to 0.7%

of all companies in the borough, they provide 46,677 jobs. In a reflection of wider trends, this


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number of businesses as a proportion of total businesses is the same as both the London and

Great Britain proportion (both 0.7%).

Table 4.6 demonstrates that since 1998, the number of small businesses located within the

borough has continued to grow.

Business Registration and De-registration

Business registrations, and deregistration, provide an insight into the economic activity of the

borough and ability to support and retain business. In 2008, there were approximately 1,800

new business registrations, and 1,245 de-registrations - a net increase of 555 businesses. By

number of businesses, LB Croydon has grown by 10% between 1998 and 2008; however this

is much lower than the growth Greater London has seen. Micro and small (less than 11)

businesses, have contributed most to this growth rate.

Table 4.6: Business Units by Size Band, 1998-2008

Croydon Greater London

1998 2008

Change

1998 -

2003

1998 2008

Change

1998 -

2003

Employment

Band12

Number % Number % % % % %

1 to 10 9,699 85.1% 10,889 87.0% 12.4 86.2 87.5 18.9

11 to 49 1,235 10.8% 1,194 9.5% -3.3 10.4 9.3 4.8

50 to 199 374 3.3% 341 2.7% -8.8 2.6 2.5 11.7

200 or more 91 0.8% 86 0.7% -5.5 0.8 0.7 5.2

Total 11,400 100 12,775 100 9.8 100 100 17.1

Source: ONS, Annual Business Inquiry

4.6 Industrial Structure

Latest data shows that there are approximately 130,500 people employed in LB Croydon.

Below we set out the industrial structure of the borough and key sectors.

Broad Industrial Employment

Table 4.7 sets out the industrial structure of LB Croydon by employment. Overall, the borough

has seen a 3% growth in workplace employment between 1998 and 2008 (latest ONS data),

which is significantly less than the Greater London rate of 11%.

12 Businesses are measured here as data units. These do not readily correspond to the commonly

used firms, companies or businesses by which employers are sometimes identified.


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Table 4.7: Employment in LB Croydon by Broad Industrial Groups

Industry 1998 % of

total 2008

% of

total

Change

(Actual)

Agriculture, hunting and forestry 37 0.02 192 0.1 155

Energy and Water 1,076 0.8 51 0.03 -1,025

Manufacturing 9,293 7.3 4,165 3.2 -5,128

Construction 7,574 5.9 6,368 4.9 -1,206

Distribution, Hotels and restaurants 31,848 25.1 29,164 22.3 -2,684

Transport and communication 10,362 8.2 7,186 5.5 -3,176

Banking, Finance and Insurance 35,992 28.4 37,344 28.6 1,352

Public administration, Education and

Health 24,877 19.6 38,998 29.9 14,121

Other Services 5,796 4.6 7,029 5.4 1,233

Total 126,856 100 130,493 100 3,637

Source: ONS, Annual Business Inquiry. These figures do not include self-employed individuals Note that figures do not always add up to exact sum due to rounding

Public Administration, Education and Health Services

The most significant sector in terms of level of employment in the borough is the Public

Administration, Education and Health Services sector, which between 1998 to 2008, grew by

approximately 56.7%, equivalent to 14,121 new jobs, and now accounts for 29.9% of the

employment in the borough. Many of these jobs are office-based, through the location of

central government operations such as the Home Office. Employment in the sector is greater

than the average for London of 28.2%, and the UK of 26.9%. It was also the biggest growth

sector in terms of employee numbers in the borough during the period 1998 to 2008. The

growth of this sector has off-set the large falls in other sector such manufacturing; transport

and communication; and distribution, hotels and restaurants. If the employment of the public

administration, education and health sector were not included employment rate between 1998

and 2008 would be –10.3%.

The growing dependency on the public sector employment will invariably impact on economic

diversity and economic resilience, economic vibrancy and perception of place to ‘do’ business,

the attraction of private sector inward investment, average earnings and social mobility.

Banking and Financial Services

LB Croydon is home to major financial service companies with back and mid offices functions.

By employment, the Banking and Finance sector is the second largest sector for the borough,

representing over one quarter (28.6%) of the total employment in the borough. This is higher

than the average for London of 19.4% and the UK average of 21.6%. However, the sector

experienced only modest growth amounting to approximately 3.8% (1,352 jobs) since 1998.

Manufacturing

In a reflection of wider trends, employment in manufacturing declined by 55.2% between 1998

and 2007, from 9,293 to 4,165 over the period.


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Table 4.7 below summarises the changes in the employee numbers for each sector in the LB

Croydon between 1998 and 2087.

Creative and Cultural Industries

There are over 11,500 jobs in the creative and cultural sector13

, representing 8.9% of all jobs

in the borough. The actual number and proportion of workplace jobs held in creative and

cultural businesses has fallen over the past 5 years from 12,380, representing a decline of

6.4%. Comparatively, the proportion of the CCI sector across Greater London is significantly

higher at 13.2%, and has grown since 2003 by 9.2%.14

By employment the largest sub-sectors

of the CCI sector are Computer Games, software, electronic publishing; Fashion; and

Architecture, though the employment held in Architecture has declined significantly in recent

years.15

Table 4.8: LB Croydon Creative and Cultural Industries by Workplace Employment

Proportion of total CCI sector

2003 2008 Change

2003-2008

LB Croydon London

Advertising 280 190 -32% 1.6% 6.9%

Architecture 2,980 2,110 -29% 18.2% 12.7%

Art and Antiques 2,280 2,600 14% 22.4% 10.6%

Computer Games,

software, electronic

publishing

1,570 2,630 68% 22.7% 16.6%

Fashion 1,460 1,450 -1% 12.5% 16.1%

Museums and other

cultural facilities

300 360 20% 3.1% 3.1%

Music and the Visual

and Performing Arts

560 510 -9% 4.4% 7.0%

Publishing 2,710 1,440 -47% 12.5% 14.8%

Radio and Television 10 40 300% 0.3% 7.1%

Video, film and

photography

240 250 4% 2.2% 5.1%

Total 12,380 11,580 -6% 100.0% 100.0%

Source: Annual Business Inquiry

The CCI sector is dominated by small businesses and a large proportion of businesses fall

under the VAT threshold of £70,000 turnover per annum. Due to HM Revenues and Customs

13 Based on 4-digit Standard Industry Classifications (SIC) as per DCMS’ Evidence Toolkit (August 2004) and other relevant

literature by the Greater London Authority (London’s Creative Sector: 2004 Update (GLA, 2004), GLA Economics and TBR

Economics (April 2006))

14 Annual business inquiry workplace analysis, 2003 and 2008 data

15 This may be due to a number of factors such as the relocation of a large business or the business’ SIC coding being redefined


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disclosure rules there is no accessible data to assess the contribution of non-VAT enterprises/

organisations. The Small Business Service estimates there are 4.3million enterprises in the

UK, which indicates there are approximately 2.2million of non-VAT enterprises in the UK

economy, that is non-VAT represent 51% of all businesses. 16

Based upon this fact, non-VAT enterprises in the cultural sector in Croydon are likely to

comprise in the region of 50% of all CCI businesses. The CCI sector is therefore estimated to

support a total of 23,160 jobs across the borough.

Research by NESTA17

recognises the importance of creative occupations outside the creative

industries sector - that is those employed in creative jobs in non-creative industries, for

instance a graphic designer employed in a council. NESTA estimates that the ratio of

creatively employment in creative industries to creatively occupied outside the creative sector

is 1:0.5218

. On this basis, a broad estimate for creative employment and the creatively

occupied in LB Croydon would be approximately 35,200.

4.7 Inward investment

Data on inward investment was difficult to access and limited in detail. Croydon Economic

Development Company (CEDC) however provided data that recorded successful investments

between January 2009 and January 2010. During this period 199 companies relocated to

Croydon from other parts of the UK. Most of these companies (80%) comprised small

companies with between one and 10 employees (132 companies of size one to five

employees, and 28 of size six to 10 employees). The total employment held by these

companies was 1,721.

Data on relocation enquiries (some successful relocations, some not) was also limited, though

the CEDC provided data on relocation enquiries from outside Croydon during 1st June 2009 to

30th June 2010. The data suggests that predominantly enquiries were made by the retail

sector, though interest in Croydon came from a wide range of sectors including retailers and

restaurants, education / child care providers, and to a more limited extent finance, insurance

and media companies. The size of premises sought was typically for small space - between

300sqft (27.9 sqm) to 4,000 sqft (372 sqm), the median being 1,250 sqft (116 sqm). The

largest space sought was by companies involved in retail or education.

4.8 Home-working

As the travel to work statistics in Table 4.4 show over 13,000 people, or 8.5% of LB Croydon’s

economically active workforce, work from home. Working from home is becoming a more

popular option, not only for the self employed but also the employees of SME to large

companies and organisations alike.

Over the last decade, many businesses and organisations have introduced flexible working.

The UK has experienced a growth in home-working since 199719

. ONS data from 2005, the

16 www.sbs.gov.uk/smes

17 National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

18 Beyond the Creative Industries: Mapping the creative economy in the United Kingdom (NESTA, Technical report; January

2008)

19 Home-working is taken to mean ‘office type work carried out by employees working from/at home’ (Dwelly, T. & Bennion, Y.

(2003) ‘Time to Go Home – embracing the home-working revolution’)


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latest data available, recorded over 2.4 million people working at home with a telephone and

computer for at least a day a week (defined as teleworkers – a subcategory of home-workers),

and that the number of teleworkers had grown on average by 13% per annum since 1997.

SMEs are particularly active in supporting home-working – a The British Chambers of

Commerce survey found that 90% of SME offer some form of non-standard work pattern.20

However, a large proportion of larger businesses now offer flexible working practices - the

latest CBI / Pertemps Employment Trends Survey found that 46% of all employers offer

teleworking in some form21

and the growth in home-working has been highest among

employees, who now outnumber the self-employed.

Compared with the rest of the workforce, UK teleworkers are highly qualified and are twice as

likely to be graduates – a recent survey found that 80% of teleworkers are managers or

professionals22

; and around three-quarters of teleworkers are in the private sector.

The key drivers behind the trend in home-working can be identified as: technology, demand by

employees; employer initiatives; and new policies by UK and EU.

Despite the growth and promotion of home working in recent years and the adoption of flexible

practices by employers, home working has often been reactive to employee demand rather

than a proactive drive by business. For example, Chartered Institute of Personnel and

Development (CIPD) research found that 69% of employers never or only occasionally accept

requests to work from home23

. A survey of HR managers in businesses across the UK found

that only 25% had switched office roles to home working, and although many felt it was a

growing trend, it was only relevant to a small number of their employees24

. The same survey

reported that the average percentage of staff working from home was 7.8% in organisations

where home working is encouraged.

Home-working has a number of implications for office space, these include:

• Supporting a home office is generally much cheaper than supporting an office space.

Home-working could lead to a reduction in demand in office space. The office space

can be re-rationalised by desk-sharing or for other office-space strategies

• The demand for the type of office space may change – Surrey County Council now

runs ‘tele-centres’ for its staff to work closer to home as an alternative to working at

County Hall; and

• Real estate costs / leasing costs may fall.

The implications for employment space in Croydon include:25

20 Work and life: How business is striking the right balance (British Chamber of Commerce, April 2007)

21 CBI / Pertemps Employment Trends Survey, September 2008

22 Quoted on ‘Prospects’ – the UK’s graduate careers website

23 CIPD, Labour Market Outlook, 2008

24Ceridian, Business Practices and Attitudes Relating to Home Working – A survey of Human Resource professionals in UK

businesses, 2006.

25 Some of these points were raised by PACEC in their review of the Croydon Office Market, September 2007


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• Home-working reduces the need to be located close to the workplace. Increased

locational flexibility could see employees relocate away from urban areas to more

rural / less accessible areas

• Increasing home-working may see a fall in demand for office space but only if home-

workers work mainly from home

• Demand for business support centres which act as a central point for home-workers –

i.e. a communal area closer to employees’ homes with appropriate

telecommunications and facilities installed; and

• Demand for office space as part of residential developments.

Overall, home working is a viable alternative to office working; however, the actual number of

home-workers is a comparatively small proportion of the total workforce, and the growth in

home working is likely to be steady rather than rapid. Croydon has a comparatively lower-

skilled workforce and smaller proportion of the occupational classification is managerial and

professional – a segment which tends to have a higher rate of home working. Further research

would be required to determine whether there could be sufficient demand for business support

centres of the style that Surrey County Council has developed.

4.9 Summary

Latest population figures record a total population of 341,800 in LB Croydon, which is an

increase of 8.2% since the last census of 1991. 218,600 residents are of working age. The

majority of the borough’s residents (53.8%) live in social housing, which is double the average

for London (26.2%).

80.9% of the working-age population is economically active, slightly higher than London

average (75.5%) and the UK average (78.8%).

47.1% are employed in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations,

compared to 52.8% in London and 42.9% in the UK as a whole.

The average gross weekly earnings for residents is £566.70, which is significantly lower than

the Greater London average workplace earnings; however the majority of residents work

within the borough itself (54.8%).

October 2008 to September 2009 the unemployment rate in Croydon was 8.1%, which was

greater than that of London (6.3%). This is the highest rate of unemployment witnessed in the

borough since February 1997.

The contribution of small businesses to employment in the borough is sizeable, with

businesses employing one to ten employees, accounting for 85% of its registered businesses

and approximately 26,600 jobs.

In 2008, 1,800 new businesses were registered in the borough and 1,245 were deregistered,

giving a net increase of 555 businesses.

In terms of key industrial sectors, public administration accounts for 29.9% of employment,

and has grown by approximately over 50% between 1998 and 2008. Also of importance is

employment in banking, finance and insurance; distribution, hotels and restaurants, which

together account for 50.9% of total employment.

ONS records the total workplace employment in creative and cultural sector in LB Croydon to

be 11,580 in 2008, which is a decline of 6% on 2003 figures. However, if estimates for non-


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VAT and the creatively occupied are included, the employment held in creative industries

would be around 35,000.


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5 QUALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT LAND – ‘LOCAL’

OFFICE AND INDUSTRIAL/WAREHOUSING

5.1 Introduction

This section provides a summary of the key findings of the field survey and desk research and

identifies the suitability of clusters for local office (B1a) and industry/warehousing (B1b/c, B2

and B8) land use. Results are summarised to provide an overview of conditions of

employment clusters. Detailed and extensive field and desk research results were collected as

part of the research and analysis.

LB Croydon has two distinctive office markets: the area within the CMC and the area outside

the CMC. These two geographies have different forms of demand and supply characteristics

and as such it is more useful to consider them separately. This section reviews the quality and

characteristics of the local office alongside the industrial and warehousing clusters which is

also located outside the CMC and caters for a smaller catchment of demand; whereas the

following section presents the results of the CMC clusters.

5.2 Employment Clusters

Table 5.1 lists the 30 employment clusters in LB Croydon, outside the CMC boundary, which

were surveyed against the site appraisal criteria set by URS and agreed with the Council. In

total the clusters comprise 248.5ha. The location of these clusters is shown in Figure 2.1.

The survey methodology and criteria are based on factors and issues set out in PPS4 (2009),

the GLA Industrial Capacity SPG (2008) and the DCLG Employment land Review guidance

note (2004). These criteria have been tailored and refined based on the consultancy team’s

experience and the specific context within Croydon.

Our assessment of supply of employment land has included a review of clusters’ suitability for

office (B1a), and industrial/ warehousing (B1b/c and B2; and B8) land-uses. As user demands

and site-specific characteristics for the two types of employment use classes differ, our

analysis has considered site suitability against both sets of criteria. An example of this is that

B1 land users usually require better access to public transport than industrial (B2/B8) land

users who require better access to A-roads. The assessment criteria used are included as

Appendix A.

It is important to note that the 248.5 hectares of land contained within employment clusters

includes a range of different uses. These employment clusters also include some residential,

retail, sui generis, leisure and community uses. The comparative analysis of the quality and

characteristics of clusters for employment use in this section is carried out on the basis of the

quantity of land contained within the lined boundaries of clusters.


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Table 5.1: Surveyed Employment Clusters

URS

Cluster

No.

Employment Area/Name of Cluster LB Croydon Adopted UDP

(2006) Designation / Site

Proposals

Total

Employment

Cluster Area

(ha)

C1 Thornton Road Employment Area 4.7

C2a Purley Way North (East of Purley Way) Strategic Employment Area 28.7

C2b Purley Way North (Progress Way/ Commerce Way) Strategic Employment Area 24.4

C2c Purley Way North (North of Tramlink Bridge) Strategic Employment Area 8.3

C2d Purley Way North (Mill Lane Area) Strategic Employment Area 2.8

C3a Purley Way South (Imperial Way/Lysander Road) Strategic Employment Area 22.8

C3b Purley Way South (Queensway/Kingsway/Princes Way) Strategic Employment Area 10.4

C3c Purley Way South (Junction of Stafford Road/Purley

Way)

Strategic Employment Area 0.7

C4 Union Road Employment Area 3.3

C5a Gloucester Road (West of) Employment Area 5.3

C5b Gloucester Road (East of) Employment Area 3.2

C6a Selsdon Road (North) Employment Area 2.6

C6b Selsdon Road (Central) Employment Area 2.1

C6c Selsdon Road (South) Employment Area 2.1

C7 Vulcan Way Employment Area 9.2

C8a Marlpit Lane (West of A23) Strategic Employment Area 5.8

C8b Marlpit Lane (East of A23) Strategic Employment Area 14.2

C9 Bensham Grove * 2.1

C10 Hastings Road (Harris & Bailey Site) * 2.0

C11 Land at Warren Road (Aggregates Site) * 2.5

C12 Cane Hill Major Devl Site in Green Belt 4.0

C13 Upper Norwood District Centre 8.4

C14 Norbury Town Centre 10.2

C15 Thornton Heath Town Centre 9.7

C16 South Norwood District Centre 13.9

C17 Selsdon District Centre 4.8

C18 New Addington District Centre 6.5

C19 Purley Town Centre 19.4

C20 Coulsdon Town Centre 10.1

C21 Addiscombe Local Centre 4.4

Total 248.5

Source: URS LB Croydon Employment Land Survey, 2010. Note that this list is not a ranking of the clusters. * = Non-designated employment sites i.e. not protected within the Strategic Employment Area or Employment Areas


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5.3 Cluster Suitability for B1a Land-use

As local office (B1a) users and uses require different site characteristics than industrial

(B2/B8) users, we have assessed cluster suitability for these respective employment land-

uses separately. Outside the CMC, which contains the overwhelming majority of office

floorspace in the borough, there are several other areas that contain a supply of office

floorspace, notably the designated town centre areas of Purley and Norbury. Drawing upon

our field survey and desk-based research, we have reviewed cluster suitability for office uses

based on the strength of the characteristics below.

Access to Public Transport

PPS4 stresses the importance of having good access to public transport as being a key

characteristic in clusters where B1 land-use predominates. In our analysis, access to public

transport for employment clusters was assessed through PTAL (Public Transport Accessibility

Levels) maps from 2008, supplied by Transport for London (TfL). PTAL ratings correspond to

the distance from any given point to the nearest public transport stops and frequency of

service. The result is a grade from 1-6 (including sub-divisions 1a, 1b, 6a and 6b) where a

PTAL of 1a indicates very poor access to the location by public transport, and a PTAL of 6b

indicates very good access by public transport26

. For the purpose of this study we have

categorised each PTAL rating into broad descriptive groups:

Very Poor PTAL 0 or 1A or 1B

Poor PTAL 2

Moderate PTAL 3

Good PTAL 4

Very Good PTAL 5, 6a, 6b

As shown in Table 5.2 below, of the 30 clusters surveyed, 15 were recorded as having very

poor or poor access to public transport, with nine clusters recorded with very good or good

access to public transport. Those clusters that scored very good or good together comprised

81.9ha and were mainly small employment areas and neighbouring residential or shopping

areas and are listed in Table 5.3 below.

26 Where a cluster occupied more than one PTAL zone, an average of all the zones was used.


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Table 5.2: Access to Public Transport

Rating Number of Clusters

Very Good 4

Good 5

Moderate 6

Poor 12

Very Poor 3

Total 30

Source: URS LB Croydon Employment Land Survey, 2010. Note that this list is not a ranking of the clusters.

Table 5.3: Clusters with Very Good or Good PTAL Ratings

URS Cluster No. Employment Area/Areas Size (ha)

C4 Union Road 3.3

C11 Land at Warren Road (Aggregates Site) 2.5

C13 Upper Norwood 8.4

C14 Norbury 10.2

C15 Thornton Heath 9.7

C16 South Norwood 13.9

C19 Purley 19.4

C20 Coulsdon 10.1

C21 Addiscombe 4.4

Total 81.9


Access to Facilities and Amenities

In accordance with the policy guidance set out in PPS4, it is required that clusters where B1a

land-use predominates have doorstep access to facilities and amenities so that the needs of

employees and, indeed the businesses, are adequately served. Employment clusters access

to facilities and amenities has been assessed through a study of the LB Croydon UDP

Proposals Map 2006 and observations made during the field survey.

The following criteria were used to assess clusters access to amenities:

Very good Shops, restaurants and/or cafes and personal services within the

business cluster or can be reached in a 5-minute walk. There is a

selection of places for lunch; there is the possibility to do some

shopping during lunch.


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Good Shops, restaurants and/or cafes within a 5-10 min walk. There is

some selection of places for lunch and other services.

Poor Shops, restaurants and/or cafes within a 10–20 min walk. There is a

limited selection of places for lunch.

Very poor Shops, restaurants and/or cafes more than a 20 min walk away. No or

very limited selection of places for lunch.

The survey found that 15 employment clusters had very good access to facilities and

amenities. These clusters are listed in Table 5.4 below. No clusters were reported as having

very poor access to nearby amenities, which is what one would expect to find in a London

Borough. Note that clusters which are identified as being designated centres in the Croydon

UDP are listed first, with other non-designated clusters listed underneath.

Table 5.4: Employment Clusters with Very Good access to Facilities and Amenities

URS Cluster

No.

Employment Area/Areas Cluster Area (ha)


C14 Norbury 10.2

C15 Thornton Heath 9.7

C16 South Norwood 13.9

C17 Selsdon 4.8

C18 New Addington 6.5

C19 Purley 19.4

C20 Coulsdon 10.1

C21 Addiscombe 4.4

C2c Purley Way North (North of Tramlink) 8.3

C2d Purley Way North (Mill Lane Area) 2.8

C4 Union Road 3.3

C8a Marlpit Lane - West of A23 5.8

C10 Hastings Road (Harris & Bailey Site) 2.0


Total 112.1

% of surveyed employment land 45


Overall Quality of Employment Clusters

In total, 25 employment clusters were considered to be in Good or Very Good condition – the

vast majority of the 30 clusters surveyed. To receive this designation over 50% of sites within

the employment cluster had to fulfil the following criteria:


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Building Condition

Very good – buildings in immaculate state, no signs of paint coming off, windows and window

frames in very good condition, immediate surrounding/grounds well kept.

Good – buildings in good condition, small areas where paint might come off, etc., grounds in

reasonable state.

Quality of environment and public realm

Very Good – the streets and the public realm within and surrounding the cluster are of very

good quality. There is sufficient street lighting and no perceived personal safety issues. The

business area is not polluted by noise or air pollution from neighbouring uses and/or heavy

street traffic.

Good – the streets and public realm within and surrounding the business cluster are of good

quality but it does not reach the ‘very good’ standard (some litter, street furniture shows signs

of aging, etc.) There are no perceived safety issues.

Employment Clusters with sites in Poor or Very Poor Condition

Five of the 30 surveyed employment clusters were recorded to have a majority (50-100%) of

sites in Poor condition. To receive this designation clusters had to fulfil the following criteria:

No clusters were assessed as being Very Poor.

Building condition

Poor – paint coming off, cracks and windows in poor state, plus surroundings are poorly kept.

Very Poor – building still in use but in very poor condition; paint coming off in large areas,

some windows broken, surroundings not maintained and/or littered and/or cluttered with

rubbish.

Quality of environment

Poor – the streets and the public realm within and surrounding the business area are of poor

quality (potholes, litter, poorly maintained or damaged street furniture). There is not enough

street lighting and some perceived safety issues. The business area might be polluted by

noise or air pollution from neighbouring uses and/or heavy street traffic.

Very poor – the streets and the public realm within and surrounding the business area are of

very poor quality (potholes, litter on street, not collected rubbish, etc.) There is not enough

street lighting and there are perceived safety issues. There is noise and/or air pollution from

neighbouring uses and/or heavy street traffic.

Table 5.5 below lists the employment clusters with a majority (50-100%) of sites that were in

Poor and Very Poor condition.


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Table 5.5: Employment Clusters with Sites in Poor or Very Poor Condition

URS

Cluster No.



C3c Purley Way South (Junction of Stafford Road/Purley Way) 0.7

C4 Union Road 3.3

C6a Selsdon Road (North) 2.6

C9 Bensham Grove 2.1

Total 11.5


Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey, 2010. Note that this list is not a ranking of the clusters

5.4 Cluster Suitability for Industrial Land-use

This section is an assessment of the cluster suitability for B1b/c and B2/B8 land uses based

on different criteria than that used to assess cluster suitability for B1a uses. The most relevant

and significant criteria include the following:

• Strategic road access

• Extent of bad neighbour uses

• Servicing of businesses

• Availability of parking.

Strategic Road Access

Through a study of Transport for London Road Safety Network map, and observations made

during the field survey, employment clusters access to the strategic road network was

assessed using the following criteria:

Very good Directly accesses Transport for London Road Network roads (TLRN)

(A22, A23 or A232)

Good Is within 200m of a TLRN road

Poor/ Very Poor Access is via B class roads/unclassified roads

The clusters with very good access to the strategic road network are listed in Table 5.6 below.


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Table 5.6: Employment Clusters with Very Good or Good Strategic Road Access

URS

Cluster No.


C1 Thornton Road 4.7

C2a Purley Way North (East of Purley Way) 28.7

C2b Purley Way North (Beddington Farm Road/Progress Way/

Commerce Way) 24.4



C3a Purley Way South (Imperial Way) 22.8

C3b Purley Way South (Queensway/Kingsway/Princes Way) 10.4

C3c Purley Way South (Junction of Stafford Road/Purley Way) 0.7


C8b Marlpit Lane - East of A23 14.2


C12 Cane Hill 4.0

C14 Norbury 10.2

C19 Purley 19.4

C20 Coulsdon 10.1

Total 169.0



Bad Neighbourhood Uses

Clusters were surveyed for any signs of potential bad neighbourhood issues resulting from the

activities within the cluster27

. Bad neighbourhood issues include the following negative

externalities; noise pollution, air pollution, smell, HGV traffic, significant car traffic, and any

other specific negative impacts, such as open storage.

Although 12 out of the 30 surveyed employment clusters were identified as generating at least

one of the externalities listed above, these were only deemed to be ‘bad neighbourhood uses’

where there was an obvious impact on sensitive uses, such as residential areas and

community facilities, in the surrounding neighbourhood. Where there is no impact of the

externality on the surrounding land use, the clusters are not scored negatively. In total, only 4

clusters had two or more bad neighbourhood uses.

27 Clusters could have more than one potential bad neighbourhood issue.


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Table 5.7: Employment clusters with 2 or more Bad Neighbourhood Uses

URS Cluster

No.

Employment Area/Areas Size (ha)

C2a Purley Way North (East of Purley Way) 28.7




Total 36.6



Servicing of Businesses

For clusters where industrial land-use predominates, it is important that there is designated

and adequate space for the servicing of businesses. The suitability of existing servicing

arrangements within each cluster was assessed during the field survey.

The field-survey identified only three clusters where servicing was deemed to be Inadequate -

the remainder having currently Adequate servicing for businesses needs. These clusters are

listed in Table 5.8 and account for 3% of the surveyed employment land.

Table 5.8: Employment Clusters where Servicing of Businesses is Inadequate

URS Cluster

No.


C6b Selsdon Road (Central) 2.1



Total 6.7



Availability of Parking

For clusters where industrial land-use predominates, it is important that there is adequate

parking space to accommodate for the needs of businesses within the cluster and the

increased likelihood that employees will travel to work by car, given that public transport

accessibility is likely to be lower. The availability and type of parking within each cluster was

assessed during the field survey.

The field-survey identified eight clusters where parking was deemed to be inadequate. These

clusters are listed in Table 5.9 and account for 10% of the surveyed employment land.


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Table 5.9: Employment Clusters where Parking is Inadequate for Industrial Uses

URS Cluster

No.



Way) 0.7

C4 Union Road 3.3

C5a Gloucester Road 5.3

C5b Gloucester Road 3.2



C8a Marlpit Lane - East of A23 5.8


Total 25.1



Suitability for Accommodating Workspace for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

There is no exact criteria for assessing sites/clusters against for suitability for accommodating

SME workspace, as potential to develop space will be often based on development

opportunity and other factors not related to quality. The criteria used to determine whether a

cluster is suitable for accommodating SMEs have been developed from URS’ professional

judgement and experience of undertaking employment land reviews and business

accommodation needs assessments, and consultations with stakeholders, and comprise;

• Good public transport accessibility (PTAL Rating of 3, 4, 5, 5A or 5B)

• Good access to facilities and amenities

• Existing presence of suitable small office/studios/workshops (which might be

indicative of demand, or better enable businesses to cross pollinate and exploit

economies of agglomeration)

• Presence of established SME sector, and

• Vacant developable land.

Based on the strength of these characteristics, ten clusters have been identified as being

suitable locations for accommodating workspace suitable for SMEs. These are listed in Table

5.10.


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Table 5.10: Employment Clusters with potential to accommodate SME Workspace

URS Cluster

No.


C2b Purley Way North (Progress Way/ Commerce Way) 24.4

C2c Purley Way North (North of Tramlink Bridge) 8.3


C4 Union Road 3.3



C12 Cane Hill* 4.0


C14 Norbury 10.2

C19 Purley 19.4

Total 88.9


Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey, 2010. Note that this list is not a ranking of the clusters * = Following discussions with the Council, Cane Hill was identified as a site with potential for accommodating SME workspace, potentially as part of an incubation or innovation facilities.

Presence of Non-B class Occupiers

Through recording the presence of individual land uses/ occupiers during the field survey, 6

clusters within UDP designated Employment Areas were identified where over 5% of the

cluster area was occupied by non-B class land uses, usually sui generis or retail activities.

These clusters are listed in Table 5.11. Sui generis activities include a range of industries

which, though they may be employment generating, do not fall in the B1, B2 or B8 use class

order but nevertheless are often associated with industrial sites in particular, such as petrol

filling stations, premises selling and/or displaying motor vehicles, taxi businesses, and scrap

yards.


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Table 5.11: Clusters within Designated Employment Areas with a significant presence

of Non-B class Occupiers

URS Cluster

No.




Way) 0.7

C4 Union Road 3.3

C5a Gloucester Road (West of) 5.3



Total 25.5



Vacant Developable Land Sites

In order to be considered as developable, a vacant land site has to be large enough to be built

on for employment premises. This might include open land not landscaped, underused car

parks, under-used yards and under-used land behind buildings. Premises that are vacant, but

fit for occupation/ actively marketed are not considered as being vacant developable land.

Table 5.12 shows that, in total, there is approximately 6.4 ha of vacant land across six

employment clusters (approximately 3% of the total land area of the 30 clusters surveyed).

Table 5.12: Clusters containing Vacant Developable Land

URS Cluster

No.

Employment Area/Areas Vacant Land

(ha)

Cluster Area

(ha)

C2a Purley Way North (East of Purley Way) 0.4 28.7

C3a Purley Way South (Imperial Way) 2.0 22.8

C3b Purley Way South (Queensway/Kingsway/Princes

Way)

0.5 10.4

C5a Gloucester Road (West of) 0.4 5.3

C6b Selsdon Road (Central) 0.4 2.1

C7 Vulcan Way 1.3 9.2

C8a Marlpit Lane - East of A23 1.4 5.8

Total 6.4 78.5

% of surveyed employment land 3 32



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5.5 Summary of Employment Clusters outside the CMC

URS’ qualitative survey of employment land clusters in LB Croydon (outside the CMC)

involved site visits of 30 employment clusters (including sub-clusters a, b, c etc.) and desk-

based research. Site appraisal criteria was set by URS and agreed with the Council. Owing to

the different site characteristics required by office (B1a) and industrial (B1b/c, B2 and B8)

users, the analysis assessed cluster suitability for these use classes separately. In addition,

cluster suitability for accommodating SME workspace was also assessed, to fit with the

aspirations of an ‘enterprising borough’.

For office land use suitability, analysis of PTAL levels deduced that 9 of the 30 employment

clusters had good or very good accessibility to public transport – a key characteristic for office

land-use suitability. 15 clusters were assessed as having very good access to facilities and

amenities (also of importance to office users), based on their proximity to designated town/

local centres. Condition of buildings and public realm quality within clusters was generally

considered to be good or very good with only five clusters having a majority of sites being of

poor/very poor quality.

With respect to industrial land use suitability, the borough contains several strategic (TLRN)

roads. 15 clusters were viewed to have good/very good access to the wider road network. A

further indication of the generally good stock of industrial sites in the borough, only four

clusters have bad neighbour issues with surrounding land use, and only three have

inadequate servicing arrangements. Parking is an issue in eight of the industrial clusters

surveyed.

There were six clusters identified where non B-class land uses made up a notable proportion

of the land area, mainly composed of retail or sui-generis businesses. Seven clusters contain

vacant developable land, totalling 6.4 ha, which is a good indication of the well-functioning

status of the industrial land market in Croydon. Based on their characteristics, 10 clusters

were assessed as having potential to accommodate SME workspace, though it is noted that

potential to develop space will often be based on development opportunity.

In summary, the borough’s current supply of Strategic Employment Areas and other

Employment Areas is considered to be in healthy condition, characterised by the presence

and availability of good quality premises, access to the wider road network, and the low

amount of vacant land. Some clusters do also present opportunity for intensification.

As a summary, Table 5.12 draws together the information presented in Tables 5.2 to 5.11.


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Table 5.12: Summary of Site Survey Results for Employment Clusters Outside CMC, as Presented in Tables 5.2 to 5.11

URS

Cluster

No.

CMC Cluster Area

(ha)

Very

Good/Good

PTAL

Rating

Very Good

Access to

Facilities and

Amenities

Majority of Sites

in Poor or Very

Poor Condition

Very Good/Good

Strategic Road

Access

Two or more

Bad

Neighbourh

ood uses

Servicing of

Businesses is

Inadequate for

Industrial Uses

Parking is

Inadequate for

Industrial Uses

Potential to

Accommodate

SME

Workspace

Significant

presence of

Non-B class

Occupiers (in

Employment

Areas)

Vacant

Developable

Land

C1 Thornton Road 4.7 ��

C2a Purley Way North (East of Purley Way) 28.7 ��

C2b Purley Way North (Progress Way/ Commerce Way) 24.4 ��

C2c Purley Way North (North of Tramlink Bridge) 8.3 ��

C2d Purley Way North (Mill Lane Area) 2.8 ��

C3a Purley Way South (Imperial Way/Lysander Road) 22.8 ��

C3b Purley Way South (Queensway/Kingsway/Princes Way) 10.4 ��

C3c Purley Way South (Junction of Stafford Road/Purley Way) 0.7 ��

C4 Union Road 3.3 ��

C5a Gloucester Road (West of) 5.3 ��

C5b Gloucester Road (East of) 3.2 ��

C6a Selsdon Road (North) 2.6 ��

C6b Selsdon Road (Central) 2.1 ��

C6c Selsdon Road (South) 2.1

C7 Vulcan Way 9.2 ��

C8a Marlpit Lane (West of A23) 5.8 ��

C8b Marlpit Lane (East of A23) 14.2 ��

C9 Bensham Grove 2.1 ��

C10 Hastings Road (Harris & Bailey Site) 2.0 ��

C11 Land at Warren Road (Aggregates Site) 2.5 ��

C12 Cane Hill 4.0 ��

C13 Upper Norwood 8.4 ��

C14 Norbury 10.2 ��

C15 Thornton Heath 9.7 ��

C16 South Norwood 13.9 ��

C17 Selsdon 4.8 ��

C18 New Addington 6.5 ��

C19 Purley 19.4 ��

C20 Coulsdon 10.1 ��

C21 Addiscombe 4.4 ��

Source: URS, 2010


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6 QUALITY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EMPLOYMENT LAND – CMC

OFFICE CLUSTERS

6.1 Introduction

This section provides a summary of the key findings of the field survey and desk-based

research of 16 employment land clusters in the CMC boundary. Figure 2.2 shows the location

of those clusters within the CMC. In total, the CMC clusters surveyed within the CMC

boundary comprise a total area of 49.9 ha.

The walk around survey and desk-based assessment collected information for a qualitative

and quantitative capacity assessment of office stock in the CMC clusters with the overarching

objective to assess the suitability of clusters in accommodating new office development on

vacant land / in the place of derelict buildings, or intensification of office stock through the

redevelopment of existing stock or rebuild.

Appendix B sets out all criteria involved in the appraisal of CMC clusters. Key factors that

help to determine the suitability of a CMC cluster for office development include:

• Good access to Public Transport - high PTAL ratings, provision of parking and

services

• Poor quality environment: public realm, building stock and building age

• None or few physical or policy constraints: bad neighbour, topographical, ecological

• Low intensity of existing use: vacancy of building / floorspace; low density (low plot

ratio or low building height in relation to surrounding land use and building height); and

• Simple forms of ownership: sites which are less fragmented and do not have multiple

owners may be more easily organised for development. We consider ownership in

more detail as part of development constraints in Section 10.

Below we set out analysis of the first four points listed above.

6.2 CMC Clusters Surveyed

Table 6.1 presents those sites within the CMC which were surveyed for their potential capacity

for office intensification or redevelopment. Figure 2.2 maps these clusters.


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Table 6.1: Surveyed CMC Clusters

URS

Cluster no.

Name Area (hectares)

CMC 1a West Croydon Masterplan (East side) 1.9

CMC 1b West Croydon Masterplan (West side) 4.6

CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan (East of station tracks) 3.0

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan (Station and West of station tracks) 6.8

CMC 3a Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street) 1.4

CMC 3b Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street) 2.9

CMC 3c Mid Croydon Masterplan (South of Katherine Street) 3.7

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road) 0.8

CMC 4b College Green Masterplan (South of College Road) 5.1

CMC 5 Old Town: Cairo New Road 0.9

CMC 6 Mason’s Avenue and Croydon Flyover 1.7

CMC 7 North of Bedford Park 0.9

CMC 8 Land between Sydenham Road and Bedford Park 1.4

CMC 9 Land between Landsdowne Road and Sydenham Road 1.1

CMC 10a George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Dingwall Road) 0.8

CMC 10b George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street) 0.7

CMC 10c George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Wellesley Road) 2.3

CMC 11a Whitgift Centre (Wellesley Road side) 2.1

CMC 11b Whitgift Centre (North End) 3.3

CMC 12a North End and Lennard Rd End (East of London Road) 1.1

CMC 12b Parson’s Mead and North (West of London Road) 1.3

CMC 13 Cross Road 0.6

CMC 14 Car Park to north of Lansdowne Rd 0.9

CMC 15 Church Rd / Croydon Flyover 0.3

CMC 16 South of Old Town (a, b, c and d) 0.5

Total 49.9

Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey, May 2010, Calculations may not always sum due

to rounding

6.3 Access to Public Transport

The majority of clusters in the CMC have high PTAL ratings indicating excellent access to

public transport. However, there are a number of sites located in comparatively less

accessible locations, as listed below in Table 6.2. These sites are likely to attract less


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developer interest due to comparatively lower levels of accessibility or distance from locations

of high footfall.

Table 6.2: CMC Clusters with Less Favourable Access to Public Transport

URS Cluster

No.

CMC Cluster Area Area (hectares)


CMC 6 Mason's Avenue and Croydon Flyover 1.7

CMC 15 Church Rd / Croydon Flyover 0.3


Total 3.4

% of surveyed employment land 6.6

Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey, 2010. Note that this list is not a ranking of the

clusters

Cluster 6 is considered to be somewhat constrained due to its location south of the A232

Croydon Flyover, which is some distance from both mainline stations (East and West

Croydon). Although Cluster 5 and 16a to 16d are well served by the Tramlink, they have

comparatively lower PTAL ratings in comparison to the rest of the CMC area.

6.4 Access to Quality Facilities and Amenities

The CMC area, in-keeping with its London Plan designation as a Metropolitan Centre,

contains a range of leisure, service and retail opportunities, which are considered to be key

locational influences for B1 office occupiers. The majority of sites/clusters are located within

easy walking distance of food retailers/restaurants, however some areas were assessed as

being better located to quality restaurants and food retail than others. In general, sites on the

Wellesley Road/George Street axes or close to Croydon High Street, were assessed as

having good access in this respect. Clusters with comparatively poorer access to quality

facilities are listed in Table 6.3.


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Table 6.3: CMC Clusters with access to a Smaller Range of Quality Facilities

URS Cluster

No.





CMC 7 North of Bedford Park 0.9

CMC 12a North End and Lennard Rd End (East of London

Road) 1.1

CMC 12b Parson’s Mead and North (West of London Road) 1.3

CMC 13 Cross Road 0.6


Total 11.8



clusters

6.5 Quality of Environment and Building Stock

Consultation with property agents and business forums, and information contained within the

London Plan and the LOPR, has established that quality of environment and public realm is an

issue affecting the attractiveness of the CMC as a business location. However, public realm

can be improved through redevelopment of a site / block and therefore should not be

perceived as a factor which significantly deters development. Although some clusters, for

example, C8 and C9, and C4b – shown in Table 6.3 - were considered to have very good

quality of environment and public realm, six clusters were identified as being of a poorer

standard – as shown in Table 6.4.

Table 6.3: CMC Clusters with Very Good Quality Public Realm

URS Cluster

No.




CMC 8 Land between Sydenham Road and Bedford Park 1.4

CMC 9 Land between Landsdowne Road and Sydenham

Road 1.1

Total 9.5



clusters


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Table 6.4: CMC Clusters with Poor Quality Public Realm

URS Cluster

No.




CMC 3b Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park

Street) 2.9

CMC 6 Mason's Avenue and Croydon Flyover 1.7

CMC 12a North End and Lennard Rd End (East of London Road) 1.1

CMC 12b Parson's Mead and North (West of London Road) 1.3

Total 13.0



clusters

The CMC area contains a wide range of office floorspace in terms of both quality and age, with

a large proportion of 1970s and 80s stock concentration. Clusters where the majority of

building stock dated from pre 1970s and/or where predominant building condition was

assessed as being identified as being in poor or very poor condition are shown below in Table

6.5.

Table 6.5: CMC Clusters with Poor or Very Poor Quality Building Stock and Pre-1970’s

Stock*

URS Cluster

No.

CMC Cluster Area Pre-

1970’s

Stock

Poor /

Very Poor

Stock

Area

(ha)

CMC 1b West Croydon Masterplan (West side) �� 4.6

CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan (East of station tracks) �� 3.0

CMC 3a Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street) �� 1.4

CMC 3b Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park

Street) �� 2.9

CMC 13 Cross Road �� 0.6

CMC 14 Car Park north of Lansdowne Rd �� 0.9

Total 13.4



clusters

* = Based on visual inspection


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6.6 Physical or Planning Policy Constraints

Physical

Very few sites were observed to have physical, topographical or ecological constraints, which

would hinder their prospect for redevelopment or intensification. Several sites were identified

as being somewhat constrained by their proximity to infrastructure, particularly rail and tram-

lines. These were;

• Cluster 1a

• Cluster 2a

• Cluster 2b, and

• Cluster 5.

Cluster 7 currently has an uncompleted granted planning application for mixed-use, including

some B1a office floorspace.

Planning Policy

Sites/clusters which form parts of masterplan or other site-specific planning guidance areas,

though providing prime development opportunity, may be preferred locations for particular

uses, which may include or preclude commercial office development. There are nine sites in

the CMC area which are constituent parts of the four masterplan areas – West, Mid and East

Croydon respectively, and College Green. These are shown in Table 6.6 below and,

importantly, total 61% of surveyed land. Two sites are also known to have active planning

applications that include commercial office provision, which are;

• Cluster 4a (part of), and

• Cluster 7.

Table 6.6: CMC Clusters within Masterplan Areas

URS Cluster No. CMC Cluster Area Area (hectares)



CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan (East of station tracks) 3.0

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan (Station and West of station tracks) 6.8


CMC 3b Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street) 2.9

CMC 3c Mid Croydon Masterplan (South of Katherine Street) 3.7

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road) 0.8


Total 30.2


Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey, 2010


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6.7 Intensity of Existing Use

We are interested in identifying those clusters which could potentially increase the provision of

office capacity. As well as access, quality of the public realm, quality of building stock and

awareness of physical and policy constraints, factors which determine the potential for a

cluster to accommodate office development include:

• The existence of vacant land or derelict buildings

• The existence of buildings of low height compared to surrounding buildings (number of

storeys), and

• Buildings with small plot ratios i.e. a small proportion of the site is taken up by the

building footprint

Each of these factors are considered separately.

Vacant Land and Derelict Buildings

Clusters with vacant land and/or derelict buildings were observed in the following locations:

Table 6.7: CMC Clusters with Vacant Land and Derelict Buildings

URS

Cluster

No.

CMC Cluster Area Vacant

Land

Derelict

Buildings

Cluster

Area

(hectares)

CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan (East of station tracks) �� 3.0

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan (Station and West of stn) �� 6.8

CMC 3b Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park St) �� 2.9

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road) �� 0.8

CMC 7 North of Bedford Park �� 0.9

CMC 10a George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Dingwall Road) �� 0.8

CMC 12a North End and Lennard Rd End (East of London Rd) �� 1.1

CMC 13 Cross Road �� 0.6

CMC 16b South of Old Town �� 0.0

Total 16.9



clusters

Buildings of Low Density (Height)

The field survey identified several areas of the CMC where current building height was

considered to be less than that achievable on-site, given surrounding building heights/

townscape and based on professional judgement. Clusters containing such buildings are

shown in Table 6.8 below.


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Table 6.8: CMC Clusters with Buildings of Low Height

URS

Cluster

No.

CMC Cluster Area Estimated

height of Low

Building

Cluster Area

(hectares)

CMC 3a Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street) 3 1.4

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road) 3 0.8

CMC 9 Land between Landsdowne Road and Sydenham Rd 4 1.1

CMC 10a George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Dingwall Road) 4 0.8

CMC 10b George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street) 3-6 0.7

Total 4.8



clusters

Clusters with a Low Building Density – Plot Ratio

Buildings with a small footprint in relation to their site (plot ratio) may have the potential to

increase their plot ratio and their development density. Employment clusters were considered

to have a low building to plot ratio if less than or equal to 50% of the plot was occupied by

building(s) footprints. This was often observed to be the case where large car

parking/servicing areas were attached to buildings. Five clusters were identified, as shown in

Table 6.9. It should be noted that several clusters with low plot ratios, contained buildings

greater than 10 storeys in height.

Table 6.9: CMC Clusters with Buildings that have a Low Plot Ratio

URS

Cluster

No.

CMC Cluster Area Estimated

plot ratio

Cluster Area

(hectares)

CMC 6 Mason’s Avenue and Croydon Flyover 20 1.7

CMC 8 Land between Sydenham Road and Bedford Park 35 1.4

CMC 9 Land between Landsdowne Road and Sydenham Rd 50 1.1

CMC 12b Parson’s Mead and North (West of London Road) 15 1.3

CMC 13 Cross Road 25 0.6

CMC 14 Car Park north of Lansdowne Road 40 0.9

Total 7.0



clusters


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6.8 Summary of CMC Clusters

URS’ qualitative survey of the CMC area comprised a review of 16 separate sites, with sites

being sub-divided where appropriate, totalling 49.9 hectares of land. Desk–based research

complemented the site visits. Site assessments were carried out against site appraisal criteria

set by URS and agreed with the Council. The overarching objective was to assess the

suitability of clusters in accommodating new office development on vacant and under-used

land.

PTAL levels indicated that the vast majority of clusters were highly accessible. However, four

surveyed clusters were considered to have comparatively less favourable access. Six sites

were highlighted as having poor quality of public realm, with three of these – all in west/mid

Croydon - also containing poor quality or outdated (pre 1970s) building stock. Few sites were

observed to have physical, topographical or ecological constraints, which would hinder their

prospect for redevelopment or intensification, though four were assessed to have rail/road

infrastructure adjacent to the site. In total, 61% of the quantum of land surveyed lay within the

CMC masterplan areas.

In terms of land-use intensity, a total of nine sites, dispersed across the CMC area, contained

either vacant developable land or derelict buildings. Focused along Wellesley Road, five sites

were identified as having low building height relative to their surroundings or spatial location,

with sites with a small building footprint in relation to their site being found at five surveyed

locations.

As a summary, Table 6.10 draws together the information presented in Tables 6.2 to 6.9.


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Table 6.10: Summary of Site Survey Results for Employment Clusters within the CMC, as Presented in Tables 6.2 to 6.9

URS

Cluster

No.

CMC Cluster Area

(ha)

Less

Favourable

Public

Transport

Access

Small Range of

Quality

Facilities

Very Good

Quality

Environment/

Public Realm

Poor Quality

Environment/

Public Realm

Poor/Very Poor

Quality or Pre

1970s Building

Stock

Physical/Planni

ng Policy

Constraints

Vacant Land or

Derelict

buildings?

Low Building

Height

Low Building-

Plot Ratio

CMC 1a West Croydon Masterplan (East side) 1.9 ��

CMC 1b West Croydon Masterplan (West side) 4.6 ��

CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan (East of station tracks) 3.0 ��

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan (Station and West of station tracks) 6.8 ��

CMC 3a Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street) 1.4 ��

CMC 3b Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street) 2.9 ��

CMC 3c Mid Croydon Masterplan (South of Katherine Street) 3.7 ��

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road) 0.8 ��

CMC 4b College Green Masterplan (South of College Road) 5.1 ��

CMC 5 Old Town: Cairo New Road 0.9 ��

CMC 6 Mason’s Avenue and Croydon Flyover 1.7 ��

CMC 7 North of Bedford Park 0.9 ��

CMC 8 Land between Sydenham Road and Bedford Park 1.4 ��

CMC 9 Land between Landsdowne Road and Sydenham Road 1.1 ��

CMC 10a George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Dingwall Road) 0.8 ��

CMC 10b George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street) 0.7

CMC 10c George Street and Landsdowne Rd (Wellesley Road) 2.3

CMC 11a Whitgift Centre (Wellesley Road side) 2.1

CMC 11b Whitgift Centre (North End) 3.3

CMC 12a North End and Lennard Rd End (East of London Rd) 1.1 ��

CMC 12b Parson’s Mead and North (West of London Road) 1.3 ��

CMC 13 Cross Road 0.6 ��

CMC 14 Car Park to north of Lansdowne Rd 0.9 ��

CMC 15 Church Rd / Croydon Flyover 0.3 ��

CMC 16 South of Old Town (a, b, c and d) 0.5 ��

Source: URS, 2010


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7 MARKET ANALYSIS

7.1 Introduction

This section provides Stiles Harold Williams’ (property market specialists located in Croydon)

overview of the LB Croydon’s commercial property markets.

As previously mentioned there are two separate geographies of demand and supply operating

in LB Croydon: the CMC office market, and the local office and industrial/ warehousing market.

The CMC office market primarily caters for headquarters and larger companies seeking a key

location within South London, prepared to pay higher rents and with a wider market, and

potentially supplier and workforce catchment area. Outside the CMC a different office market

operates which caters for a distinctly different demand profile and as such presents a different

supply profile from the CMC. This is defined as a ‘local’ B1a office market, catering for the

needs of SMEs across a smaller property market area. The industrial and warehousing market

is also considered to operate at a local level and as such the B1b/c, B2 and B8 market is

assessed alongside the local office market. See Figure 7.1.

A review of the CMC office market is presented first (7.2 to 7.7) followed by a review of the

local office, industry and warehousing market (7.8 to 7.13).

7.2 CMC Market Overview

Definition

We have defined the CMC office property market area as the South London Fringe Property

Market Area (SLFPMA), which includes:

• Inner London: Southwark, Wandsworth, Lambeth and Lewisham

• Outer London: Croydon, Bromley, Sutton, Merton; and

• Surrey: Reigate and Banstead.

The property market area represents the area of search a business or organisation may

consider when seeking property. Typically locations within the area of search offer comparable

locational advantages and a similar range of benefits occur in each location. If looking to

locate in the area, firms will have already made a strategic decision to place themselves in this

part of the South East. Each office centre within the SLFPMA can all be said to provide the

following benefits: good internal and external transport links; a diverse but well educated

workforce and; a wide range of housing stock, coupled with amenities and social infrastructure

to support a diverse workforce.


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Figure 7.1: Property Market Areas and Major Transport Routes

Source: URS


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CMC Overview

This section considers the role and position of the CMC office market within the SLFPMA and

wider London market.

Croydon is located in the heart of the South London and Surrey region and therefore, in many

ways, the strengths of the region are also the strengths of the CMC office market. The CMC’s

position as a major transport hub in the region allows employers to draw on a large and

educated workforce as can be found in the region more generally. The transport links also

enable good access to the supply chain and client markets.

The majority of office stock dates from the 1960’s and 1970’s when the town experienced

rapid office development to accommodate increased demand from the public sector and

demand for back office functions. The level of stock rivals that of major regional centres in the

North of England such as Newcastle and Manchester. Croydon is however within close

proximity to central London - a major international office centre attracting companies on a

global level, which continues to draw the majority of occupier attention in the South East

region. Croydon is very much a secondary office location in this respect, containing a large

amount of cheaper, lower quality, office space.

Approximately a third of all employment within the town is provided by the public sector. In

particular, The Home Office occupies a significant amount of floor space and is the sole

occupier of some of the largest buildings in the town including Apollo and Lunar House and

Metro Point. Private companies located within the town including the headquarters of Nestle

UK, Mott MacDonald and Direct Line, positioning it as a centre for insurance services and

general ‘back office’ operations of the financial sector.

The town is to some extent a victim of pre-conceptions held by potential occupiers due largely

to the age of the office stock and its exterior aesthetics. Social problems such as crime or the

fear of crime can also contribute to negative pre-conceptions which dissuade occupiers from

considering the town.

Requirements from occupiers locating in the area tend to follow set radial patterns which may

be viewed as segments extending outwards from central London. Within these segments,

Croydon would fall under the south central category with another major segment being the

south west London market including Wimbledon. It is rare for a larger company to make an

east-west move, for example, from Bromley to Croydon or from Croydon to Wimbledon and

vice-versa. The view of local property market agents is that demand for office floorspace is

stronger from occupiers already established in the CMC than from inward investment (moves

by businesses from central London to Croydon to LB Croydon are said to be relatively

uncommon).

7.3 CMC Office Market and Comparator Centres

LB Croydon has strong radial and orbital linkages within South London. Comparator centres

within this boundary are considered to be:

• Inner London: London Bridge/Waterloo/the South Bank known as the SE1 market,

plus town centres in Wandsworth, Lewisham and Lambeth


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• Outer London / Surrey: Bromley Town (Bromley), Wimbledon (Merton), Redhill and

Reigate (Surrey)

The market can therefore be broadly described as having the following boundaries:

• SE1 to the North

• Redhill and Reigate within the Borough of Reigate and Banstead to the south

• Bromley to the East, and

• Wimbledon to the West.

The CMC office property market is geographically defined by centres that compete for medium

to large-scale occupiers (450sqm upwards)

Total Stock

According to Stiles Harold Williams research, there is approximately 715,000 sqm 28

of office

space in the CMC area is the largest office market in terms of floor space in the southern outer

London boroughs. Whilst the SE1 area has a significantly greater level of stock at 1.74 million

sqm this area comprises a number of centrally located and densely populated centres such as

Waterloo and London Bridge. Apart from the SE1 area, the largest competing office centre is

Redhill and Reigate (which is itself comprised of two separate towns) and provides

approximately 315,000 sqm of space – c.45% of the total stock in Croydon. Croydon is

therefore the most significant office centre in the South London area.

The Wimbledon office market is reported as being circa 100,000 sqm whilst Sutton is the

smallest at 71,000 sqm. The choice and availability of office buildings in Croydon is therefore

significantly higher than that of local competing centres.

The comparator centres of Wimbledon and SE1 have a higher proportion of newly built stock.

As previously mentioned, Croydon has suffered from a lack of speculatively built office space.

It has the highest proportion of 1960’s/1970’s buildings of all local office centres. Significant

recent developments in comparator Centres include the Kingsgate scheme in Redhill, and

Chorus in Wimbledon. One of the main weaknesses of the CMC market is that, in recent

years, it has been unable to provide any speculatively constructed new office stock.

Trends in Level of Stock

Croydon CMC became established as a regional office centre during the 1960’s and 1970’s

when there was large scale office development. Driven by accessibility and land values/ cost

saving, the growth of the tertiary sector, and suburban growth, the CMC become popular as a

‘back office’ location.

There has been little large scale development activity since the 1980’s, largely due to rental

levels limiting the viability of new development and there being more value in retaining and

refurbishing existing buildings rather than build new. By comparison, other centres in the

SLFPMA have attracted new development recently. Reigate and Redhill has developed

substantially in the 1980’s due to the motorway link at Junction 8 of the M25 (Reigate Hill).

28 This figure is different to the VOA data due to buildings being refurbished and therefore not included in the rating list


August 2010 Page 93

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Wimbledon has also seen more recent development, partly a factor of the smaller, ‘tighter’

market (less available sites), which has lead to a pent up demand for new development.

Figure 7.2: Total Stock in Comparator Centres within the SLFPMA

200,000

71,000

448,945315,000

102,200

715,000

1,737,304

-

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

Croydon Bromley Sutton Wimbledon South Bank Redhill /

Reigate

Wandsworth

Sq.

m.

Source: Stiles Harold Williams/ Farebrother Research/ Atkins/ Focus/ EGi

Vacancy Rates

The vacancy rate within the CMC office market has, on average, been below 10% for most of

the last ten years. Vacancy has increased recently: since 2008 the current level of vacancy

has been approximately 12%, comparable to levels experienced after the early 1990’s

recession. One of the main factors in the increase in availability is Delta Point, Wellesley Road

coming to the market comprising 23,225 sqm. Due to its size, the CMC office market is less

susceptible to large fluctuations in vacancy. By contrast Sutton has a reported vacancy rate of

circa 30%, the proposed conversions of some large scale offices to alternative uses may

greatly affect this figure. Equally, new additions to smaller markets, such as the 4,128 sqm

Kingsgate development in Redhill will distort figures.

Generally, the vacancy rate amongst the major comparative centres within the SLFPMA is

around 10%. The most efficient market is South Bank which has a reported vacancy rate of

approximately 6%.


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Figure 7.3: Vacancy Rates within Comparator Centres in the SLFPMA

12.0

30.0

8.0

6.0

11.0

7.5

9.0

-

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

Croydon Bromley Sutton Wimbledon South Bank Redhill / Reigate Wandsworth

Vacan

cy P

erc

enta

ge

Source: Stiles Harold Williams / Farebrother Research/ Atkins/ Focus/ EGi

Prime Rents

Croydon currently has one of the lowest prime rents of the major office centres within the

SLFPMA. The main reason for this is the age and supply of stock. Whilst newly built

developments in Wimbledon, for example, have helped to push rents up towards £300 per

sqm, the second hand refurbished stock which dominates the CMC office market has not held

its value during the economic downturn.

Prime rents in Croydon peaked during the early 1990s at the peak of the previous property

cycle. At the time, small scale newly built developments such as Christopher Wren Yard were

able to achieve rental values of £25 per sqm. From this historic high, prime rents

subsequently fell due, primarily, to wide scale economic contraction. These rents then grew

gradually throughout the next ten to fifteen years though to some extent affected by shorter

term influences such as the dotcom bubble. At the peak of the property cycle in 2007, prime

rents had just about returned to their early 1990s peak. Prime rents at the time where £237

per sqm. The majority of these lettings were of refurbished space which dominated the market

at the time and continues to do so.

There is a broad correlation between vacancy rates and prime rents whereby the two towns

with the highest vacancy rates (Croydon and Sutton) also have the lowest prime rents. The

prime rental level of £430 per sqm seen in SE1 reflects the areas central and more prestigious

location, and the high proportion of newly developed high quality stock in relation to total

stock.


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In the CMC office market, there have been fewer enquiries since the onset of the economic

downturn, while at the same time, the amount of available space has increased. As much of

the office stock offers a similar standard of accommodation, landlords are becoming more

competitive on price in order to differentiate their building. The trend towards lower prime rents

is one that we would expect to see continue in the short to medium term (2-3 years) as office

availability is set to increase.

Figure 7.4: Prime Rents within Comparator Centres in the SLFPMA

215

236

188

296

430

247

290

-

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Croydon Bromley Sutton Wimbledon South Bank Redhill / Reigate Wandsworth

£ /

Sqm


Overall, Croydon has the largest office market of the outer London comparator centres within

the SLFPMA. The recent increase in vacancy rates coupled with lack of new stock has had a

depressive effect on prime rents which now stand at £215 per sqm. In contrast, comparative

centres with more restricted supply such as Wimbledon have maintained higher rents. This is

significant because it demonstrates the restriction in supply and the better quality of office

accommodation in this town. Geographically, Croydon has many of the same attributes as

Wimbledon and benefits from greater public transport accessibility. The main differences

between the two towns are that Wimbledon has a more restricted supply of sites for office

buildings and suffers from less of the negative pre conceptions that occupiers can have

towards Croydon.

The key issue of prime rents is that they represent the relationship between demand and

supply in an office market. When appraising a development, developers will look to these

figures to gauge the likely profitability of a project. Aside from land costs, many of the costs

associated with the development will be similar in each of the comparator locations (with the

exception of SE1). As such, assuming sites can be acquired at an acceptable price, those


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locations that are able to demonstrate higher prime rents will be more attractive to developers.

Put simply, the higher the prime rents, the greater the profit for the developer is likely to be.

For this reason, prime rents should not be considered as nominal figures but rather as a signal

to potential investors that there is good demand in the town.

7.4 CMC Demand Characteristics

Take Up

Trends regarding take up (which represents demand for office space) across the SLFPMA

shows a marked reduction since the onset of the economic downturn. Croydon itself shows

take up of just under 15,000 sqm for 2009, which is below the annual average of

approximately 23,000 sqm seen over the last ten years or so. There have been no large scale

lettings of over 3,000 sqm within the CMC office market in the last two years. The most

notable lettings were; Mitsubishi Electric taking 1,212 sqm at Stephenson House and Mott

MacDonald taking the whole of Phoenix House at 2,600 sqm.

Figure 7.5: Take up within the major comparator centres of the SLFPMA during 2009

14,864

1,858

45,594

2,415

15,72614,000

3,716

-

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

50,000

Croydon Bromley Sutton Wimbledon South Bank Redhill /

Reigate

Wandsworth

Sq.

m.


The take up figures for Wimbledon were dominated by three large lettings of newly developed

office space including; Sutton and Merton PCT who took 3,900 sqm at Chorus, Capsticks LLP

who took 4,180 sqm at St Georges House and Orbis who took 3,437 sqm at Wimbledon

Bridge House. This level of take up is unusual for the town and resulted from the completion of

speculatively built space. Usually the level of take up for Wimbledon is similar to that of

smaller comparative centres such as Sutton or Bromley. As has been previously considered,

the Wimbledon office market is attractive to occupiers because it benefits from modern stock


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and is considered to be a generally more attractive town within which to locate. This means

that demand from occupiers is relatively strong; however the level of take up is more strongly

influenced by the supply of new buildings. Recent developments (albeit in more favourable

economic conditions) have demonstrated that when office space is built speculatively it tends

to attract occupiers.

In SE1, the number of lettings was far higher due to the size of the market. The average size

of transactions was greater, with numerous lettings of over 900 sqm occurring each quarter.

The largest letting was to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation trust who took 5,384 sqm at

75 York Road. Other significant lettings included 2,834 sqm to Markit Information Services Ltd

at the Cottons Centre and 2,353 sqm to Red Bull at More London.

Take up within the CMC area for 2009 was relatively poor – a reflection of wider economic

issues. With the exception of Wimbledon and SE1, take up in the other comparator centres

was similarly below average. The main implication of this is that there will be an increased

supply of office space which, in a relatively homogonous market place will inevitably lead to a

decrease in rental levels. This, in turn, will make the town less attractive to potential

developers and investors as it signals that there is not sufficient demand within the town to

support a profitable new development. Undoubtedly, the level of take up will increase in the

future with a corresponding increase in rents. However, in the absence of such growth in the

short term, should the town wish to attract inward investment, it must make developments with

lower rental values more viable. This could be done by reducing the obstacles for

development, one of the most significant of which is the cost of obtaining initial planning

consent. If developers are able to partake in a less protracted planning process, it may be able

to secure an advantage over comparative centres where rents are higher.

Take Up In the CMC Office Market Since 1998

Office take-up in the CMC office market can fluctuate greatly from quarter to quarter. This is

due to larger single lettings which have the capacity to skew the figures. The trend is for a

reduction in take-up, which peaked during 2000. Since the onset of the economic downturn,

take-up has levelled out, and no longer produces the peaks experienced in the early 2000’s.

This is due to a reduction in large scale lettings, with fewer firms feeling confident enough to

incur the costs associated with moving. The majority of recent lettings have been as a result of

lease expiries or break clauses, where companies take the opportunity to upgrade to a better

building on competitive terms.


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Figure 7.6: Quarterly take up in the CMC office market since 1998

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

sqm

Source: Stiles Harold Williams

Take Up by Sector

Recent take up of office stock in Croydon is shown in Table 7.1. The proportions mirror the

size of sector, by employment (refer back to Table 4.7).

Table 7.1: Take Up by General Sector, 2006-2010

Sector Percentage of Take Up

Public Administration 30%

Finance/ Professional 22%

Engineering and Construction 20%

Training, employment and education 13%

Transport 8%

IT 7%


Take Up by Quality

In general terms, in recent years the majority of take up has been in the more modern

completed developments and better quality existing accommodation. Take up, for example, in

the 1960’s and 70’s unrefurbished buildings has been low with the modern office occupier


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looking for better quality buildings for reasons such as staff retention and to comply with

legislation, such as the Disability Discrimination Act.

Table 7.2: Take Up by Quality, since 2007

Year Older Stock

1960’s/70’s

Unrefurbished

Older Stock

1960’s/70’s

Refurbished

Newer stock

1980’s/90’s/00’s

Unrefurbished and refurbished

2009 12% 62% 26%

2008 8% 84% 8%

2007 5% 73% 22%

Source: Stiles Harold Williams Research

The above figures demonstrate that in recent years refurbished stock has been the most

successful in securing new lettings. This is due to the fact that there has been very little new

development and therefore if occupiers wish to have a modern standard of accommodation

they are only able to find it within refurbished buildings. As such, the market for new build

developments is untested in recent times due to the lack of speculatively built stock. Although

there are a limited number of pre-let opportunities in the market, these have tended to fair less

well amongst local occupiers who generally work to shorter timescales when moving (6 to 12

months).

The success of refurbished buildings is driven by the fundamental characteristics of initial

structure. Initially, is the location right? Ideally occupiers would like to be within close proximity

of East Croydon station with a pleasant and secure route to their office. Recently, the

extension of the East London line has attracted occupier’s attention towards West Croydon

station and this has benefitted office buildings in the main office core between Wellesley Road

and Dingwall Road. Secondly, the structure of the building must be able to accommodate

modern working practices. Larger scale occupiers prefer large open floor plates with minimal

interruptions by columns. This allows them to occupy fewer floors and also allows the work

space to be adapted as a company structure practices evolve. Furthermore, the height

between structural floor slabs should be sufficient enough to accommodate both suspended

ceiling and raised floor. The latter increases the flexibility of the work space as desks will not

necessarily have to be bound to the position of perimeter trunking against interior elevations

and columns. Refurbished buildings that do not have these characteristics have tended to be

less successful. The most notable recent refurbishments include No. 1 Croydon (formerly NLA

Tower), Knollys and Stephenson House on Cherry Orchard Road, 69 Park Lane and Sunley

House on Bedford Park Road. The common characteristics between each of these buildings is

that they have one or more of the following characteristics; a central location, good sized open

floor plates, raised floors and suspended ceilings, modern exterior aesthetics.

When embarking on a project, developers will usually have conducted extensive market

research with advice from agents and other advisers within the local property market. Should a

newly built office development be proposed it will usually be because it offers the greatest

likelihood of profitability. Given that refurbishments are generally cheaper to undertake there

should be a sound reason why a developer is proposing otherwise. For example, a

refurbishment may not be marketable as it does not have the characteristics as considered

above, the costs of the refurbishment are prohibitively high. One of the main drawbacks of


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refurbishment is that it confines a developer to an existing structure and does not allow the

density of a site to be increased by, for example, creating a taller building or a building with

more efficient floor plates. This acts as a disincentive to purchase the site as it closes one

potential avenue of value maximisation.

7.5 CMC Supply Characteristics

Availability

Major properties and sites that became available in the past few years in the SLFPMA centres

include the following;

Croydon: Trafalgar House, Bedford Park – a self contained building comprising 4,460 sqm

approx which was completed in 2006/07 for the Land Registry. The building was originally built

as their headquarters for their own occupation. Prior to this, the last office development

completed was Metro Point in Sydenham Road comprising 3,716 sqm which was built

speculatively and let on completion in 2002 to The Home Office.

Redhill and Reigate: Recent developments include Kingsgate in Redhill comprising 4,107

sqm a new landmark office building which completed in 2008 to a Grade A specification. In

Reigate, London Court, a self contained building of 3,298 sqm was completed in the autumn of

2009 to a Grade A specification. The property is situated on London Road which is the prime

office location in Reigate and benefits from an excellent parking ratio of 70 spaces.

Wimbledon: New office buildings have been generally well received in the market. Notably,

Wimbledon Gate, comprising 5,465 sqm, was completed in 2005 and let shortly afterwards to

Domestic and General, a local company who relocated from elsewhere within the town. The

property was a self contained office building of 5,465 sqm. More recently, Chorus, a scheme

of 3,948 sqm was completed in 2009 and let to the Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust for

their own occupation.

As the examples above demonstrate, in recent years where speculative development has

been undertaken in Croydon, it has been wholly let to the public sector. This means that there

has not been a significant letting of a newly constructed building to a private sector tenant in

Croydon for a least a decade. It is therefore unsurprising that no new build large scale office

developments were constructed during the last upturn as the market is so untested. It has not

yet been demonstrated that Croydon has the ability to attract a significant amount of demand

from private sector occupiers of other comparator centres. The implications of this are that

developers must assume that demand for new development is confined to the CMC market

and the occupiers located therein. This clearly inhibits the marketability of development sites.

However, should a new office development be successful in securing such an occupier,

confidence in the CMC market would increase and with it the likelihood of developers

speculatively constructing schemes.

Development Pipeline

In the majority of SLFPMA centres there are no significant development completions about to

happen or under construction. The major exception to this is SE1 where there is currently

10,219 sqm of offices under construction. The large majority of the speculative space will

come from the Shard where 31,215 sqm of office space is scheduled to complete in 2012.



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This is a mixed use tower and the other five schemes with speculative office space are also

mixed use buildings.

In Croydon, there are a number of speculative schemes proposed and currently being

marketed on a pre-let basis. These include:

• Proposals for Ruskin Square (West of East Croydon CMC 2b) suggest a mixed use

scheme comprising an office element of 10,219 sqm in four separate buildings. The

developer is Stanhope/ Schroders

• At Chroma, 100 George Street (north east corner of CMC 4a), Terrace Hill have

planning consent for a new office development of 23,969 sqm - a stand alone scheme

opposite East Croydon station

• At 13-16 Dingwall Road (vacant and derelict land CMC 10a), there is planning consent

for a new office development of 23,225 sqm. However, the developer has recently

gone into receivership and LPA receivers are now appointed

• In Cherry Orchard Road (CMC 2a), developer Menta is proposing a comprehensive

redevelopment. A mixed use scheme comprising 1,000 apartments and 37,160 sqm of

offices, shops and bars was previously proposed. A planning application was

submitted in autumn 2008 but was subsequently withdrawn as it was understood to be

unlikely to be successful. There was a lot of opposition to the scale of the proposed

scheme from local residents

• At 28-30 Addiscombe Grove (south east area of the CMC boundary – not surveyed),

developer Berwick Hill has planning consent for a new office development of 3,741

sqm arranged on ground and six upper floors. This is a stand alone building situated

close to East Croydon station.

In total, these five developments could provide around 61,154 sqm and 98,314 sqm of office

floorspace.

This build up of latent supply is due to the dearth of new development before the two previous

peaks in the property cycle in the late 1980’s and mid 2000’s. In the current market, new

development will only take place with a pre-let to a good quality ‘blue chip’ company. These

are difficult to secure, firstly because occupiers are generally not expansionary at present, but

also because of delayed supply and the unwillingness to commit to a building that has not yet

been produced. As a result, even if a developer were to secure one or two average sized pre-

lets, the majority of a 20,000 sqm building would still need to be constructed speculatively.

There is a general consensus amongst developers that new office developments will need to

achieve rental values of circa £300 per sqm to become viable. These figures can increase for

larger schemes such as the Croydon East Croydon masterplan where infrastructure provision

increases construction costs.

As mentioned, one of the main weaknesses of the CMC office market is the lack of modern

stock and negative preconceptions amongst occupiers. Areas of the town can appear to be

neglected, especially the Ruskin Square and Chroma sites which are directly adjacent to East

Croydon station and are the first thing that many visitors see. In addition the area around St.

George’s Walk and the former Park Place scheme suffers from a number of vacant retail units

and office suites. The provision of effective master plans could have the potential to improve



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the image of the CMC office market. The key feature of any new plan is that it must be seen to

be realistic and deliverable. There would therefore need to be an important balance between

improving the built environment and ensuring that the plan is economically viable.

We believe there will be good demand for new office space on key sites such as the East

Croydon masterplan when the occupier market has improved and rental levels have increased

sufficiently to justify new development (circa £300 per sqm). The timescale for this happening

is unclear but we forecast this happening within the next 3 to 5 years. During this time period,

LB Croydon could take an active role in helping to prepare sites for development to attract

interest from developers – potentially this could include site clearance and land remediation, if

required; undertake a positive branding exercise and actively market the CMC as a place for

doing business.

Similarly we believe the Chroma site at 100 George Street, is a prime location for offices in the

CMC. Such sites could become highly marketable particularly if combined with improvements

to the public realm. The best example of such a proposal is the new pedestrian entrance to

East Corydon station via the Ruskin Square site. If completed successfully, this could greatly

influence people’s perception of the town as visitors travelling via East Croydon would

immediately encounter a modern and regenerated area.

Whilst such sites may be marketable, there are supply site factors which currently inhibit the

potential to deliver the schemes. The most pertinent issue is that of bank finance, with the

majority of developers being unable to fully finance a speculative office development,

particularly one as large scale as the Ruskin Square site. For as long as financial institutions

are unwilling to forward fund speculative development, the deliverability of key redevelopment

sites will remain in doubt. This is not a problem that is confined to the CMC market but is one

that may become more pressing should other markets begin to recover at a greater pace. The

first step will be an office development that is able to demonstrably attract a large private

sector occupier, either through a pre-let or to a speculatively developed scheme. The Council

can play a role in helping to reduce barriers to development where possible and improve the

attractiveness of the CMC to potential occupiers such as improvements to the public realm, a

reduction in perceived social issues and general promotion of the town as a business centre.

We anticipate the first new office scheme could be 28-30 Addiscombe Grove, due to its

smaller size and the lack of dependency on a major pre-let to kick start the scheme, increasing

its viability.

7.6 CMC Property Market Outlook

A general trend amongst office occupiers is for consolidation of space. Whereas over the last

ten to twenty years large corporate occupiers would take offices in smaller local centres, this is

now changing, with occupiers preferring larger, less fragmented space in regional centres.

This is particularly true with corporate occupiers, partly so that large numbers of staff are able

to commute via public transport. The CMC office market may therefore be able to draw such

occupiers from nearby local centres such as Purley or Caterham. However on the strength of

transport links alone, this trend will be more difficult to repeat from the main competing office

centres of Wimbledon, Reigate and Redhill and SE1 until higher quality office stock is

provided.



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The availability of stock in Croydon means that it is well positioned to accommodate firms

looking to consolidate space. Floor plates in excess of 900 sqm are available, and this size

space allows occupiers to minimise the number of floors that their operation is split over.

At the same time, there is also an increase in demand, amongst corporate occupiers for more

modern and sustainable buildings. Often, the core policies of large companies will prohibit

them from occupying a certain type of building. They will generally seek buildings that are

accessible, inclusive and sustainable while also providing the right corporate image. More

often than not, new office buildings are best positioned to offer each of these variables.

Croydon has a distinct lack of new build offices with the majority of modern space being

refurbished within 60’s, 70’s and 80’s buildings. This can be seen as one of the major

weaknesses of the town as without such accommodation, corporate occupiers will not

consider the CMC market even for ‘back office’ or secondary operations.

Croydon traditionally has more economical rents and therefore could be expected to be a net

beneficiary of the economic downturn as companies look to reduce costs, of which rent is a

major element. However, the large cuts in public sector spending and employment announced

by the new coalition in the emergency budget of June 22nd

2010 could impact on the Croydon

occupier market of which the public sector constitutes a significant proportion. Potentially,

government spending cuts could result in an increase in office availability and have a

depressive affect on rents. The reliance on the public sector can therefore be seen as a weak

of the CMC.

One of the main strengths of the CMC office market is its capacity to accommodate new

development. Having produced very few new office buildings before the peak of the last

property cycle, the town now has numerous sites available for new development. This

contrasts with the competing centres of Wimbledon and Redhill / Reigate, which were able to

promote development.

7.7 CMC Market Conclusions

The CMC holds the largest area of office floorspace in the south London area, outside of SE1.

It benefits from excellent public transport links and provides a wide selection of office

accommodation of varying sizes. It is characterised by large scale public sector occupation,

along with financial and engineering/construction companies from the private sector and is

generally aged, with very little recent development. The town suffers from negative

preconceptions amongst occupiers as a result. The town has seen prime rents to fall due to

the economic downturn, which began in quarter two of 2008. This trend is expected to

continue as similar quality second hand and refurbished space enters the market. In order to

draw occupiers from competing centres, the CMC Office market will need to improve the

quality of the built environment. This is likely to entail significant speculative development in

the hope of achieving rents of circa £300 per sqm. In the absence of past evidence of such

rents, developers are likely to consider the financial risk unacceptable at present.

Looking forward, the main strength of the CMC office market in relation to comparator centres

within the SLFPMA is that it has the capacity to deliver new developments with rents that

could be significantly lower than comparable buildings in central London. The combination of

excellent public transport infrastructure with significant cleared sites with the benefit of

planning permission for office and mixed use development is something which is not found



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frequently if at all in the comparator centres. However, in recent times the town has not been

successful in realising proposed developments and has somewhat stagnated in terms of the

built environment generally. Over the past twenty years or so, various master plans have been

proposed none of which have had the affect of stimulating new development and/or

improvements to the public realm.

We consider the stimulation of new build office developments to be vital to the ability of the

CMC market to capture a greater proportion of employment growth in the future. Should the

town continue to produce largely refurbished office stock, we would anticipate that patterns of

take up and prime rents will very much repeat the pattern seen between the previous peaks of

the economic cycle between the early 1990’s and late 2000’s. Rents will increase marginally

as space is gradually taken up but, there will be no dramatic increases in prime rents that new

build developments have the ability to deliver. Furthermore, the low number of buildings that

have the right characteristics for successful refurbishment (as previously mentioned good

location, suitable external aesthetics, large unbroken floor plates and floor to ceiling heights)

will mean that occupiers will become increasingly unable to secure suitable accommodation.

There is therefore a danger that without new development, not only will the town fail to attract

a greater proportion of employment growth, but may lose occupiers to those centres that are

able to supply the right type of office stock. While there is no doubt that refurbishments can be

successful, the likelihood of success is highly site specific. We would therefore suggest an

over reliance on refurbishing the existing stock would have the affect of minimising the

potential for capturing employment growth in the future.

7.8 Local Office, Industry and Warehousing Market Overview

This section looks at the local office (B1a), industrial market (B1b/c and B2) and warehousing

(B8) outside the CMC boundary.

The employment land market outside the CMC provides accommodation for smaller scale

businesses and local enterprises. The two main types of occupier that are likely to be located

in the local market are new start up businesses with employees from within the borough, and

more established businesses that rely on the local population for their custom. An example of

the latter would be firms of solicitors or accountancy firms. Such occupiers are highly

influenced by the location (residence) of staff and directors. The decision to be based in the

local office property market is usually due to the convenience of avoiding long commuting

distances. Such businesses may have grown from the home or local serviced office centres

and may provide services at a local level or make use of the internet to broaden the area

covered geographically by the company.

Businesses which take up space in local office markets or factory or warehousing space

provided in LB Croydon will have a smaller geography of search when looking for premises.

The local office and industrial market in LB Croydon share similar demand characteristics to

surrounding London and Surrey boroughs. As such the area of search can be referred to as

the Local Property Market Area (LPMA), which geographically covers:

• Croydon, Bromley, Sutton, Merton (Outer London); and

• Reigate and Banstead (Surrey).



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7.9 Local Office Market Demand and Supply Characteristics

VOA data records 130,000 sqm of office stock outside the CMC. The local office market is

dominated by small to medium sized stand alone office buildings of up to 2,000 sqm and

ancillary offices attached to other commercial uses, such as above retail or as part of an

industrial unit. The defining characteristics of this accommodation are that premises are much

smaller than that found in the CMC, rents can be significantly lower and lease terms are

generally more flexible. Accommodation is likely to be owned by smaller private investors who

are generally willing to provide flexible occupancy terms. This flexibility is vital for smaller

businesses, especially new start-ups that may be unsure of committing to a lease of at least

five years.

Serviced office providers are important contributors to the office stock in the LB Croydon

market. While such operations are located within the CMC, a number are located within the

local property market. These centres provide a range of small scale office space (from offices

small enough for one person) and provide accommodation for those looking to establish their

first business premises. Often the rental price will include additional services such as

receptionist, office furniture, telephones and internet etc and business are able to occupy on a

monthly basis. These centres provide an environment where small businesses can benefit

from agglomeration such as networking. Examples of serviced office centres include Lombard

House, operated by Workspace Group on Purley Way, and Croydon House nearby on Peall

Road.

The local office market is an important source of employment for the local population.

Whereas the larger companies that occupy the CMC and other competing centres will require

a certain level of skill from their employees, the local office market provides an environment in

which clerical and administrative staff can find employment close to home.

Prime rents ranges from around £100 to £160 per sqm and many of these areas identified

provide very limited office accommodation with the exception of Purley, Coulsdon and

Thornton Heath town centres.

Take up has been negligible in recent years and there have been no new development

completions for a number of years in any of these locations. Low demand for office space in

many district and town centre locations has meant that some office space has been lost to

other uses.. In Norbury, where there are now only a few significant office buildings available,

there has been three or more major office buildings converted to residential or self storage

uses within the last ten to fifteen years. In Purley town centre and Coulsdon town centre, there

has been no new office development in these locations for some considerable time and

demand is very localised. We have seen a number of companies relocating from these areas

into more established areas such as the CMC or M25 towns to the south such as Redhill and

Reigate.

7.10 Local Office Market Outlook

In terms of the outlook over the planning period, we believe the LPMA will continue to provide

employment sites for the local office market although we suspect there is unlikely to be rapid

growth in demand and believe that occupiers may look to relocate to the more established

business locations, such as the CMC.



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It is expected that demand will remain relatively static with potential for the continued trend of

loss of commercial to other uses, such as residential, in the medium term up to 2031.

7.11 Local Industrial and Warehousing Market

Overview

The Croydon industrial and warehousing market principally competes with the following

regional areas within the LPMA, which include:

• Sutton – principally centred on the Kimpton Industrial area

• Redhill and Reigate

• Bromley;

• London Borough of Merton.

However, all of these areas have their own specific supply and demand factors and, whilst

there has been some cross movement between areas, for historic reasons businesses have

tended not to move across from one area to another.

With the decline of manufacturing in the UK, the majority of occupiers in the local market tend

to be warehousing (B8) orientated although we have seen a number of telecoms companies

taking accommodation in the last ten years for switch centres, self storage operators and more

recently occupiers dealing with distribution for internet sales operations.

The local industrial and warehousing market includes the following centres within the LB

Croydon:

• Purley Way North

• Purley Way South

• Gloucester Road

• Selsdon Road

• Vulcan Way

• Union Road

• Ullswater Crescent

• Thornton Road, and

• Bensham Grove.

These specific areas lie within the LB Croydon however, the industrial and warehousing

market overlaps with LB Sutton at Purley South area located off Stafford Road and between

Beddington Lane and Beddington Farm Road. Much of this warehousing incorporated in the

London Borough of Sutton has a Croydon postal address and is part of the cross-borough

Purley Way SIL, as defined in the London Plan.



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Table 7.3: Industrial Stock Levels Across the LPMA

Area Stock sqm

Croydon 836,000

Redhill and Reigate 336,000

Sutton (excluding Beddington Lane) 426,000

Bromley 506,000

London Borough of Merton 736,000

Source: URS/DTZ and Stiles Harold Williams

Supply and Demand Characteristics

In total there is 1.3 million sqm of industry and warehousing stock within the LPMA, of which

836,000 sqm lies within LB Croydon. Age and condition of stock varies. Stock includes 1950’s

and 60’s light factory accommodation, the majority of which has now been replaced by more

modern late 1970’s early 80’s space with 10% ancillary office accommodation and good

accessibility.

There has been a considerable amount of new development in the Purley Way South and

Purley Way North areas although only one other new development in the other areas, in the

past 10 years.

The most recent developments being completed in the area include Phase I Spitfire Business

Park located in the Purley South area and ZK Park, Commerce Trade Park and Commerce

Park located in the Purley Way North area. These developments have offered a mix of units,

in terms of size, from 185 sqm to 2,800 sqm on both leasehold and freehold terms.

The warehouse and logistics market in Croydon is generally seen as one of the larger markets

in the South East. The strength of the Croydon market is the broad range of accommodation

offered and the variety of premises to accommodate different user types. Locally, however,

there is some divergence in quality of stock and age of buildings. Vulcan Way in New

Addington is nearly all 1960’s accommodation and has seen little new build or improvements

to quality. Union Road and Bensham Grove also offer older style manufacturing areas which

are considered to be less suitable for today’s modern logistics operators due to relatively poor

access (both also located in residential areas).

Key locations by level of stock are set out in the following table.



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Table 7.4: LB Croydon Industrial and Warehousing Locations

Location Total Premises (sqm)

Purley Way North 201,518

Purley Way South 152,816

Gloucester Road 44,707

Selsdon Road 12,626

Vulcan Way 53,211

Union Road 18,065

Marlpit Lane 62,630

Thornton Road 27,156

Outside of employment areas (subject to Policy EM5) 263,361

Total 836,090

Source. LB Croydon Monitoring Data 2007/2008

In term of competition from other markets, it is quite insular in that it does not attract occupiers

from outside the M25 and has seen a loss of firms to Redhill/Reigate. Such firms have

included Winterbotham Darby, Nera and Wika Instruments distribution (telecommunications

and light manufacturing companies). The loss has been driven by occupier’s tenure and

accommodation requirements.

Vacancy Rates

With the downturn in the economic climate the industrial premises vacancy rate has increased

from approximately 5% in 2007 to the current level of 6.4% (peaked at approximately 11% in

early 2009). The increase in vacancy has been driven by business failure, the consolidation by

larger national companies into existing accommodation, and the lack of new developments to

meet the demands of modern occupiers.

Prime Rents

Table 7.5 below shows comparative industrial stock, prime rents and vacancy levels across

the LPMA.



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Table 7.5: Prime Rents in Comparator Centres

Location Prime Rents £/ sqm Vacancy Rate

Croydon £86.11 6.4%

Redhill and Reigate £91.50 6.7%

Sutton (excluding Beddington Lane) £86.11 7.2%

Bromley £83.42 3.4%

London Borough of Merton £102.26 6.0%


Figure 7.7 shows that the 2009 rental values are the lowest values achieved since 2000. This

has implications for attracting new development.

Figure 7.7: Prime rents in Croydon

83.42

86.11

96.88

102.26102.26

91.49

88.8

91.4991.49

96.88

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Re

nt £

/ s

qm

(pe

r a

nn

um

)


Falling rental values are one reason for why there have been no new speculative

developments of industrial/ warehousing stock in the last three or four years, within the LB

Croydon. The last scheme to complete was Spitfire Business Park, 1 Hawker Road completing

in 2006. The only scheme currently available offering new accommodation for logistics and

industry is the IO Centre (Croydon Road) although this lies within the London Borough of

Sutton. More recently a number of institutional landlords have refurbished older stock (30



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years old). Refurbishment has included units with concertina loading doors rather than

electronically operated roller shutter doors; extension to office space, and other enhancements

such as damage cladding, re-guttering and roofing.

In terms of demand, the market is very much driven by access to the strategic road network.

In the last fifteen years, floorspace has been taken by telecommunications operators for use

as ‘switching centres’. More latterly, we have seen an uptake in internet sales companies

occupying distribution warehouses driven by the close proximity of residential property to the

Purley Way South and Purley Way North industrial areas. This has included Tesco’s taking

16,700 sqm at Factory Lane for home delivery operations through to smaller retailers

operating internet sales operations. A number of self storage occupiers have taken space

along the A23 over the last 10 years driven by the same reasons.

Table 7.6 below shows the take up of industrial/ warehousing space in the Croydon market

since 2000.

Table 7.6: Take up of industrial/ warehouse space in Croydon

Year Take Up (sqm) Indexed on yr 2000

2000 37,161 100

2001 44,128 119

2002 59,935 161

2003 51,449 138

2004 45,032 121

2005 77,885 210

2006 34,533 93

2007 37,161 100

2008 42,786 115

2009 35,892 97

Source. Stiles Harold Williams

7.12 Local Industrial Market Outlook

Over the last twelve years, there has been a considerable amount of development of

warehouse and factory accommodation in the Croydon market replacing older stock from the

post war era, which was unsuitable for today’s modern occupier. However there is little land

available along the main arterial roads such as the A23 Purley Way for future development.

Over the last decade there has been continued pressure from residential development. As a

result some industrial/warehousing space has been lost. Approximately 15,000 sqm of

warehouse/logistic space was been lost at New South Quarter (NSQ) on the Purley Way

through a mixed use redevelopment scheme. Stiles Harold Williams believes that space for

articulated vehicle movements and lack of yard and parking facilities at NSQ is unsuitable for

warehousing/logistics accommodation. A such there has been a loss and downgrading of



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good quality accommodation for B1(c), B2, B8 users. Mixed use developments such as NSQ

must ensure that the needs of all end-users are fully accommodated.

In addition to the pressure from the residential developers, there has been increased pressure

from alternative use classes including religious organisations, medical users and a number of

other uses within the D1 and D2 use classes29

, which in some instances has removed older

style industrial premises from the market place.

Since the early 2000’s areas to the east, around Dartford, have become more attractive to

occupiers, due to access to the Channel Tunnel, Dartford Crossing and links to the national

motorway network. There are potentially sites to the southern end of the LB Croydon that

would perhaps offer an excellent opportunity to re-dress the balance of lost employment

generating land and would offer far better motorway access for occupiers. Some clusters to

the south of the borough have excellent road access to the national motorway network as well

as good rail facilities to central London and south to Gatwick and the South Coast making

them far suitable for today’s modern occupier.

7.13 Local Market Conclusions

There is a strong established industrial warehousing base in LB Croydon. However, we have

seen this market change from an engineering/ manufacturing basis to one of storage and

distribution - a trend that we consider will to continue. Accessibility is a key driver of this trend,

Croydon is ideally situated equidistant between the M25/M23 and central London and has a

large number of local residents within proximity. This is evidenced by Tesco’s Home Delivery

service operating out of 185,000 sq ft in Factory Lane, Croydon serving the South London

region. Demand from internet based retailers seeking warehousing for distribution purposes

has also grown over recent years and is expected to continue to grow. A good mix of

warehouse space will need to be provided without hours of use restrictions as today’s

occupiers require 24 hours 7 days a week operation.

The borough has some former employment areas located in residential areas. Though clusters

in these residential areas do not offer today’s modern occupier the quality and standard of

accommodation that they require and stringent planning rules to retain, they do serve a

function for SMEs, offering smaller premises at lower rental levels and often with more flexible

leasing arrangements.

29 Non-residential institutions, and assembly and leisure, respectively



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8 CONSULTATIONS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS

8.1 Introduction

This section reports in aggregate on the key responses of the consultations with stakeholders

charged with the provision of business support e.g. Croydon Economic Development

Company; Croydon College; Croydon Enterprise Loan Fund; Croydon Enterprise as well as a

businesses located in the borough.

8.2 Business Accommodation Demand and Supply

Key responses

• Croydon faces strong competition in attracting new businesses and investors

• Deficiencies exists in the provision of medium to large units, and high quality office

space; and

• There is a greater need to re-development of existing office stock (older and out dated

stock) rather than build new office floorspace.

There was a high level of consensus among respondents that the main areas of deficiency, in

relation to stock, was high quality office floorspace. Presence of high quality office floorspace

would also act as a catalyst to attracting new investors to Croydon and stimulate regeneration.

The majority of consultees spoke of how the appearance of older, out of date office stock

could act as a factor inhibiting the attraction of business to the CMC. Other locations in the

London Fringe area were considered to have better availability of good quality premises,

although it was thought that the supply of good quality premises across the London Fringe was

lacking.

A key employer in Croydon commented that the commercial the land and building frontages

surrounding East Croydon Station were poor and did not project the right impression of a place

to do business.

Notably, one respondent expressed a lack of enthusiasm towards the construction of new,

larger developments, designed to attract large scale companies and headquarters, believing

instead that attention should be given to retaining Croydon-based firms and SMEs. Their

concerns were that large firms would lack involvement with the local economy, although it was

acknowledged that they could bring employment opportunities and contribution towards the

Croydon Business Improvement District (BID) programme.

In terms of SMEs requirements, in spite of the general scarcity of good quality stock, these

businesses generally appear to have little problem in finding premises that are fit for purpose

and there is little outward movement of such businesses from the borough.



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8.3 Labour Force Structure

Key responses

• Education and skill levels are considered to be low and participation and attainment

levels need to rise be in order to attract investment and provide economic stimulus;

and

• Consideration should be given to the further development of practical, industry-

focused skills.

There was a consensus from all stakeholders that the education and skills base in the area

was in need of improvement; however the existing education level of residents are said to

match the lower education and skills base required for occupations by existing employers,

such as retail, call centre and administrative positions. The low skills profile however, is

recognised to limit the economic mobility, contribute to economic inactivity and income

deprivation.

When taking into account the levels of industrial and manufacturing premises in the borough,

consultees felt there is a deficiency in practical skills within the local population that may be

causing businesses to locate elsewhere within the broad M25 industrial market.

There is a belief among some existing businesses and concerned parties that attracting

employers in high growth sectors to the area would produce a knock on effect in improving

education and skill levels in the medium to long term.

One respondent suggested that a lack of information technology expertise was a particular

constraint on attracting more high profile occupiers to the borough, with another key

stakeholder suggesting that a large proportion of residents who do possess higher education

qualifications, tended to commute outside of Croydon to work.

8.4 LB Croydon as a Place to do Business

Key responses

• Highly accessible location; however significant out-commuting

• Good quality environment: good quality green space, attractive to residents and

businesses, a wide range of commercial and residential stock

• Perception of high crime levels in Croydon is a key issue; and

• Need to develop a stronger, more distinctive brand and business offer.

A key feature of the borough and the CMC in particular, is that there are strong linkages to

central London, and therefore other parts of the UK, and its proximity to Gatwick Airport,

providing links internationally. Business organisations highlighted the locational advantage of

Croydon as a key factor in attracting inward investment.

More broadly, LB Croydon, consultees remarked upon that there was adequate provision of

housing stock, retail facilities and a good presence of green open spaces. However, it was

acknowledged that the CMC suffers thorough poorly presented public realm and a lack of

areas of quality amenity space, which are a prominent feature in other office locations such as

Victoria, SE1 area and Canary Wharf.



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One respondent suggested that the CMC lacked a flagship retail occupier and that there was

perhaps an over-presence of budget retailing. However, the breadth of retail offer which the

CMC provides has to be seen in the context of the socio-economic composition of the resident

population.

8.5 Economic Downturn

Key responses

• Empty premises are having a negative impact on perceptions of the area, making it

appear less attractive to prospective investors

• The impact of the recession is most clearly seen by the closure of high street

commercial and retail properties. It is important to manage empty and poorly

maintained premises so they do not impact negatively on the local economic offer

All respondents noted that the number of vacant retail premises had increased, particularly

within district and town centres (less so within the CMC), as a result of the economic

downturn. This was seen to exacerbate negative perceptions of place and as a place to do

business.

Several respondents noted that support for SMEs was important to help the borough emerge

from the economic downturn.

8.6 Priorities for Policy

Key responses

• To attract new investors through the development of commercial property that is

centrally located, of high quality and with high design and construction sustainability

credentials

• To prioritise the refurbishment or modernisation of business accommodation, which is

close to major transport hubs

• Need for a modern business centre to support the growth of SMEs; support for

business start up and retention, and encouraging larger employers to support SMEs in

their growth

• The need to re-configure and enhance the town centre public realm and, in particular,

to address transport and infrastructure issues, e.g. Wellesley Road; and

• Targeted inward investment schemes for area specific development strategies

• A stronger direction and vision: Croydon is ‘fit for it’s current purpose, but needs a

clearer purpose’

All respondents commented that there was a need to attract large employers; however it was

also important to attract, retain and support the growth of SMEs, and that local businesses

should not be overlooked in favour of larger companies.

There was a consensus among stakeholders that LB Croydon should market the CMC as an

office destination, and cited Canary Wharf, Holborn St Giles, and Brindley Place as examples

where this has been successful.



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The completion of proposed developments, in particular key sites such as 100 George Street

(Terrace Hill) and the East Croydon Station masterplan, was crucial to realising a positive

change to the public and commercial realm of the CMC.

In general, stakeholders felt that the CMC would benefit from a complete package of works to

revitalise the public realm – from a reconfiguration of the road network to street-furniture

redesign.



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9 EMPLOYMENT LAND FORECASTING

9.1 Introduction

This section presents the forecast for office and industrial floorspace demand in LB Croydon

over the planned period to 2031. The forecast of the future demand of employment is based

on the methodology suggested in the Employment Land Reviews: Guidance Note (CLG,

2004).

9.2 Forecast Approach

As outlined in the CLG Guidance Note for Employment Land Review (2004) there are various

forecasting approaches that can be used to estimate demand. One approach is to use

employment projections based on macro-economic forecasts. This approach takes account of

wider drivers of change and growth, particularly with regard to the economy of London. The

Greater London Authority (GLA) model presents macro-economic forecasts for based on a

‘triangulation’ process, which incorporates:

• Structural trends evident in the boroughs

• Assumed transport accessibility improvements, and

• The availability of current, and the development of new, business sites and related

premises.

However, applied at a local/borough level the GLA’s model does not usually take account of

the specific circumstances affecting a borough’s local economic development. These factors

could include the availability and nature of specific sites, the range of local regeneration and

job creation initiatives and the specific plans of local businesses in the borough. Our

employment forecast is based on the GLA’s macro-economic forecasting model. However, to

overcome these weaknesses we:

• Consider the property market areas with respect to different employment land use

classes and locations (which recognises that business looks across administrational

boundaries when seeking accommodation)

• Identify, analyse and apply the effects of local / sub-regional factors which are not

reflected in the demand forecasts; and

• Analyse the comparative strengths and opportunities of LB Croydon, and consider

how, under particular scenarios, the borough might capture a greater share of demand

for employment land arising through employment growth.

By this method we ensure that the GLA macro-economic forecasts appropriately incorporate

local factors, which impact on future demand.

9.3 Property Market Areas

At a borough level, changes to the floorspace stock are strongly influenced by single large

events. Decisions by individual employers or developers in specific boroughs can conceal

underlying trends across a property market area (PMA). The same is true for employment

trends based on predictions of macro-economic forecasts for individual boroughs. Businesses

searching for sites and premises to move to will typically look across an area wider than the



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borough area. We have therefore chosen to forecast the employment land demand for LB

Croydon using data employment growth forecasts based on defined property market areas.

There are two distinct PMAs, which we use in our analysis, as discussed below. The PMAs

were developed in conjunction with local property market agent Stiles Harold Williams.

Croydon Metropolitan Centre Office - Property Market Area

LB Croydon has strong radial and orbital linkages within South London. For the CMC office

market, the suitable area against which a comparison with existing sub-regional forecasts and

benchmarks should be undertaken is the South London Fringe Property Market Area

(SLFPMA). The position of LB Croydon on the fringe of London means that the SLFPMA

includes boroughs from inner London, outer London and Surrey. The SLFPMA comprises:

• Wandsworth, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham (Inner London)



The justification for using data from the SLFPMA is that boroughs in the PMA share similar

market demand characteristics. The property market area is also in part determined by major

lines of transport (access to appropriate markets, workforce, suppliers), and variables which

companies consider when seeking occupancy e.g. rental values. The justification for including

central London boroughs is that the CMC has similar characteristics to these boroughs, such

as the attraction of larger multinational office occupiers.

Local Office and Industrial - Property Market Area

The demand catchment of the local office and industrial land (factories and warehousing)

involves a smaller PMA than the SLFPMA. This reflects the fact that the local office and

industrial market in Croydon shares similar demand characteristics to surrounding London and

Surrey boroughs. In this report the local PMA is called the Local Property Market Area

(LPMA). The LPMA includes the following:



The geography of both property market areas are illustrated in Figure 7.1.

9.4 Employment Forecasts

The most recent employment forecasts for London boroughs are produced by GLA Economics

and are contained within ‘London Employment Time Series – Technical Report (March 2010).

This report shows the employment projections for industrial and office jobs to 2031 for each

London borough. The GLA advise boroughs to use these figures for forward planning

purposes. The office employment projections for Reigate and Banstead were taken from the

Reigate and Banstead Economic Market Assessment 2008. The employment forecasts for the

boroughs within the respective property market areas described above are assessed to help

define demand for CMC office and local office and industrial land up to 2031.

CMC Office Employment Forecasts

The actual SLFPMA office employment profile is significantly larger than LB Croydon

(approximately seven times). Employment in offices across the SLFPMA is forecast to

increase by over 39,000 workers between 2011 and 2031 and by just 2,000 workers in LB



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Croydon over the same time period (see Table 9.1). Growth in the short to medium term

period (2011–2021) is expected to be lower than in the long term period (2021-2031) across

both the SLFPMA and Croydon, which is expected to see negative growth in office

employment in the short/medium term period.

Table 9.1: CMC Office Employment Forecast by Number, 2011 - 2031

Projections (Actual)

2011 2016 2021 2026 2031

SLFPMA 301,350 309,800 319,000 328,400 340,400

LB Croydon 42,900 42,600 42,000 43,400 44,900

Source: URS, 2010; GLA Economics London Employment Time Series 2010 & Reigate and Banstead

Economic Market Assessment 2008

Table 9.2: CMC Office Employment Forecast by Percentage Change, 2011 - 2031

Change (%)

2011-2021

Change (%)

2021-2031

Actual

Absolute

growth

Compound

growth pa Actual

Absolute

growth

Compound

growth pa

SLFPMA 17,650 5.9% 0.6% 21,400 6.7% 0.7%

LB Croydon -900 -2.1% -0.2% 2,900 6.9% 0.7%



The historical and forecasted growth of the office employment across the SLFPMA and LB

Croydon are set out in the chart below. Over the period 2011 to 2031 the SLFPMA is forecast

to grow by 13.0% and LB Croydon by a lower rate of 4.7%. Given that the wider SLFPMA is

forecast to grow at a faster rate than LB Croydon, the CMC has an opportunity to appeal to

businesses in the property market area and attract a larger share of office employment. How

Croydon might capture a proportion of the growth of demand for office floorspace that is

predicted to occur in the wider PMA is discussed further in 9.6 below.



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Figure 9.1: SLFPMA Historic and Projected Employment Trends (CMC Office)

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025 2028 2031

Year

Em

plo

yee

s

SLFPMA

LB Croydon

Historic Projected

Source: URS, 2010

Local Office & Industrial Employment Forecasts

Table 9.3 below shows the projected office and industrial employment for the LPMA and

Croydon between 2011 and 2031. The actual LPMA office employment growth profile is

approximately twice as large as LB Croydon. Employment in offices across the LPMA is

forecast to increase by over 13,935 workers between 2011 and 2031 and by just 2,000

workers in LB Croydon over the same time period.

Table 9.4 shows that over time the LPMA is forecast to experience a larger decrease in

industrial employment than LB Croydon. There is forecast to be a -17.4% decrease in

industrial employment (-12,591 jobs) in the LPMA compared to -15.7% (-2,900 jobs) over the

same period for LB Croydon.

Table 9.3: Local Office & Industrial Employment Forecast by Number, 2011 - 2031

Projections (Actual)

2011 2016 2021 2026 2031

LPMA (Office) 136,365 139,700 143,900 145,900 150,300

LPMA (Industrial) 72,174 67,599 63,426 61,354 59,583

LB Croydon (Office) 42,900 42,600 42,000 43,400 44,900

LB Croydon (Industrial) 18,500 17,300 16,200 15,800 15,600





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Table 9.4: Local Office & Industrial Employment Forecast by Percentage Change, 2011–

2031

Change (%)

2011-2021

Change (%)

2021-2031

Actual

Absolute

growth

Compound

growth pa Actual

Absolute

growth

Compound

growth pa

LPMA, Office * 7,290 5.3% 0.5% 6,400 4.4% 0.4%

LPMA, Industrial ** -8,748 -12.1% -1.3% -3,843 -6.1% -0.6%

LB Croydon, Office * -900 -2.1% -0.2% 2,900 6.9% 0.7%

LB Croydon, Industrial** -2,300 -12.4% -1.3% -600 -3.7% -0.4%



* = Office defined by use class B1a

** = Industry defined by use classes B1b/c, B2/B8

The historical and forecasted growth of the office and industrial employment across the LPMA

and LB Croydon are set out in the Figure 9.2 below.

Figure 9.2: Local Office & Industrial, Historic and Projected Employment Trends

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025 2028 2031

Year

Em

plo

ye

es

LM PMA (Office)

LM PMA (Industrial)

LB Croydon (Office)

LB Croydon

(Industrial)

Historic Projected

Source: URS, 2010; GLA Economics London Employment Time Series 2010 & Reigate and Banstead Economic Market Assessment 2008

9.5 Adjustment of Macro-Economic Demand

The next step is to adjust the forecasts by taking account of factors which will impact upon the

demand for employment floorspace across the borough, not accounted for by the GLA

forecasting. The GLA forecasts consider historic trends of employment, site capacity and

accessibility with consideration of how 'scheduled' transport interventions will affect the

accessibility of employment sites. Factors not considered by the GLA forecasts include



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unscheduled transport improvements; masterplans; and local regeneration and investment

initiatives and programmes.

These local factors could contribute positively to the economic environment and add to the

borough’s comparative advantage allowing the borough, and the CMC in particular, to capture

a larger share of the forecast office and industrial employment growth across the SLFPMA. To

develop our understanding of the relative strength and opportunities of LB Croydon to the

competing centres of the SLFPMA and the LPMA, we consider below the comparative

strengths the CMC and the wider borough, and any barriers or constraints limiting economic

growth.

We translate these local factors into scenarios of how the borough could capture a larger

share of office employment growth (see Table 9.5).

9.6 Other Factors Impacting on Employment Growth

Investment in transport schemes

A key strength of LB Croydon is its role as a transport hub between the key ‘spokes’ of central

London and Gatwick Airport. LB Croydon can capitalise on these links. Whilst the proposed

addition of a second runway at Gatwick Airport has been postponed indefinitely (likely until

after 2019 at the earliest), plans have been submitted that would allow the airport to handle an

additional six million passengers annually by 2018. The accessibility improvements of this

expansion would have a positive impact on the Gatwick Diamond area. Given the strong

transport connectivity between the CMC and Gatwick, the CMC is well placed to benefit from

economic opportunities arising from expansion.

The East London Line (ELL) extension, which has been recently opened, links the borough

(through West Croydon and Norwood Junction stations) with key growth areas in east London.

Improved access to these areas will likely provide better access to consumers, clients,

suppliers and the labour market. The GLA economic forecasts will have already accounted for

the direct impacts of the ELL extension but there could be further catalytic indirect and induced

impacts to the local area also such as raised market profile, greater awareness of place,

improved perception of place and image, which could draw investment opportunities.

The potential extension to Croydon Tramlink and Thameslink 2000 (reducing journey times to

central London) will also bring demand knock-on effects. These potential transport

improvements are likely to have a positive effect on the relative demand for both office and

industrial land in LB Croydon.

CMC Masterplans

The CMC contains five masterplan areas. Together, these contain enormous potential for

mixed-use development, of which office uses will be a major component. The completion of

these masterplans can create a real stimulus for economic growth and benefits in terms of

increased employment, retail and leisure opportunities for borough residents.

The CMC masterplans are likely to see requirement for sustainable design and construction

techniques to realise higher forms of energy efficient, design specifically for smart, flexible

workspace; and meet the technical requirements of modern businesses. The regenerated

urban realm would enhance perception, a sense of place and competitiveness as a business

location of the CMC to attract inward investment. New build would also impact positively on

staff retention.



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The realisation of these schemes will be influenced by short-term economic trends affecting

development viability, confidence and risk attitudes of developers and key partners. It will also

be influenced greatly by the role that the Council plays as a facilitator, both through policy

intervention.

Rebranding Croydon

Overcoming the perception of CMC as lacking character and suffering from a poor image

presents a challenge. However given the proactive nature displayed by the Council and the

potential redevelopment of the CMC through masterplanning, the rebranding of Croydon may

be possible in the short to medium term. Physical renewal and redevelopment through the

masterplanning process can act as a stimulus for new investment. Innovative, sustainable and

mixed use buildings can act as new landmarks helping to fashion a new identity and image.

The brand of LB Croydon could be enhanced by: utilising the CMC’s designation as a

Strategic Office location; taking action to reduce crime; and implementing public realm

improvements. A focused marketing campaign could make the CMC a more attractive location

for potential occupiers within the SLFPMA.

Supporting growth sectors could prove crucial to ensuring that the borough retains its position

as a preferred location for both large and small enterprises in the South London fringe area.

This could help attract new skilled labour to the borough and serve to broaden the skills base.

It is also likely to have a minor beneficial effect on the demand for industrial premises as

entrepreneurs start to see Croydon as a dynamic area of London and the Surrey fringe and a

suitable location for starting up high tech industrial and logistics businesses.

An Enterprising Borough

LB Croydon recognises the importance of economic diversification and has aspirations to

regenerate deprived areas in Croydon and narrow the gap between these areas and the rest

of Croydon using entrepreneurship as the key driver. The LEGI programme is supported by

significant revenue and capital funding (£77 million). There are major development schemes

across North West Croydon, New Addington and Fieldway, designed to support small

business start up and retention, through networking, business advice, showcasing, the

provision of managed workspace and incubator space, for instance. The initiative is a ten-year

programme.

Public Administration Employment

The public administration sector employs a disproportionately large number of LB Croydon’s

workforce, relative to other competing centres. In the current economic climate and short to

medium term outlook, spending cuts could translate to an absolute reduction in the public

sector workforce.

9.7 Comparative Advantage Assessment

Through desk-based research and in discussion with Stiles Harold Williams, the CMC office

market’s competing centres are:

• Lambeth: SE1 property market area (Vauxhall)

• Southwark: SE1 property market area (London Bridge/Waterloo)

• Lewisham: Lewisham Central and Catford

• Wandsworth: Wandsworth Town Centre, Clapham Junction



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• Merton: Wimbledon

• Sutton: Sutton and Cheam

• Bromley: Bromley/Beckenham/Orpington

• Reigate and Banstead: Reigate/Redhill

Relative to these town centres, the Croydon has the following comparative strengths and

opportunities relating to employment land:

Strengths

• Economic activity: A large centre whose critical mass makes it less prone to adverse

structural changes. The CMC has a strong retail offering and cluster strength, which

contributes to the economic base and provides significant employment opportunities

and supply chain opportunities for the borough.

• Workforce: Large catchment area owing to transport connectivity, therefore able to

access a diverse and skilled workforce.

• Accessibility: Croydon could justifiably be seen as one of the most significant public

transport hubs in the South London and Surrey area. Key links include; fast trains to

Victoria, London Bridge and Gatwick Airport; the East London line extension; Tramlink

to Wimbledon; and strong airport links. As a result the proximity to customers, markets

and suppliers are deemed to be positive factors for Croydon as a place to do

business. Due to comparatively poor East/West transport links, the catchments of

occupiers and travel to work are stronger North to South - following the logical

transport route of the A23 and the main London to Brighton railway line.

• Sites and premises: Good stock of development sites available in key CMC

locations, which create the potential for the centre to grow. The CMC can offer

anything from small one to two person offices in serviced business centres to an entire

20,000 sqm stand alone office building. The rental values of stock is also considerably

lower than central London, adding to the borough’s competitive economic advantage.

Opportunities

• Key sites and masterplans: Significant opportunities revolve around the five

masterplans of the CMC, which are being currently progressed. Collectively, they

could bring about deliver 156,000 sqm (gross) of new high quality office stock and

drive the regeneration of the CMC bringing about positive a change to the living,

working and retail environment, image and brand. Sites such as Ruskin Square (West

of East Croydon Station CMC 2b) and 100 George Street (located on the north east

corner of the College Green masterplan site, CMC 4a) would provide Grade A office

space able to attract occupiers from central London boroughs looking for a cost

effective location. The masterplanning and improvement of the CMC would act as a

catalyst for other new development, by acting as a rental trigger and improve the

viability for other new build and refurbishment. In particular, as previously observed,

the Ruskin Square site is ‘of sufficient size to accommodate a critical mass of

landmark development of the level required to achieve a step change in Croydon’



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(para. 3.3, Savills 2006). 30

A quickly let scheme would provide a strong indicator to

occupiers that the CMC market is strengthening, increase the likelihood of further

office development, and tackle perceptions and sentiments of what the CMC is worth.

• Gatwick airport expansion and competing centres: Although the proposed

expansion of the airport, by the addition of a second runway, has been postponed, this

could potentially materialise in the latter years of the Plan period. Nevertheless, plans

have been submitted that would allow the airport to handle an additional six million

passengers annually by 2018, with Croydon potentially benefiting from this

commercially owing to its proximity and links to the airport. Demand for other local

areas such as Sutton, which also provides a significant volume of office space, has

seen general decline as it is increasingly seen as a peripheral location with less

favourable transport links.

• Strengthening the established business location: Croydon is a well-established

office location, reflected by its allocation in the London Plan. If weaknesses can be

addressed / mitigated then its strong critical mass and potential for expansion would

likely precipitate future growth.

• Supporting local enterprise: The local authority is supportive of local enterprise. The

Council’s LEGI programme, which seeks to enhance SME start-up, growth and

retention, has so far contributed positively to economic growth, productivity and

diversity, particularly in local centres which are underperforming.31

32

The Croydon Economic Development Company will play an important role in

strengthening the name of Croydon as a business location and supporting local

enterprise. The CEDC is ‘committed to economic development through skills and

employment, business investment, marketing of strategic sites and the improvement of

the underlying economic infrastructure’. It has strong partnerships with Croydon

businesses, Croydon Business Improvement District (BID) and Croydon Council.

• Changing work practices: Public sector departments have been particularly

proactive in encouraging home-working / hot-desking, which may have implications for

the demand for floorspace. More research needs to be undertaken to understand how

home-working trends could impact on the demand for floorspace. Potentially a growth

in home-working could lead to an increase in demand for business support space/

units, similar to ‘tele-centres’ to serve as meeting space or technology centres, in

areas outside the CMC.

• The Core Strategy education and skills strategy proposes to bring forward a

‘multiversity’ (a range of institutions offering both further and higher education levels).

The concept would look to enhance the competitiveness of the local workforce by

30 FBD Savills (2006); Proof of Evidence of David Williams (title unknown) and Donaldsons (August 2007); ‘Arrowcroft Group

Plc, Croydon Gateway Office Market Report, To Include Q1 and Q2 2007’

31 However, 2010-11 is the last financial year for the LEGI programme. An initial estimate is that approximately £8.6m will be

spent by the programme in 2010-2011. £29m was spent by the programme in years 2006/07 to 2009/10. (Information provided

by the Council).

32 See page 21, public spending cuts recently announced could mean that the LEGI programme is discontinued.



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improving access to education and skills. Work with Croydon College, Croydon

Economic Development Company and academic institutions to attract university

campuses to the borough.

Weaknesses

• Quality of office stock: The existing office stock is generally considered to be old

and, according to some reports33

, not fit for purposes. Issues with old stock include:

small average floor plate size; low ceiling heights incapable of raised floors and air

conditioning systems required in modern office construction and Codes of Practices

(for instance relating to health and safety and environmental impact); excessive

columns; solid floors and limited floor to ceiling heights limit the installation of flexible

workspace and technical requirements. Previous reports have found that the market is

no longer accepting of poor quality, largely aesthetic refurbishments. Vacancy for old

stock is significantly higher than new build, however there have been few completions

of grade A stock over last few years. The lack of newly built high quality stock has

impacted on the attractiveness of the location, and rates of inward investment. For

example, large corporate occupiers would not be comfortable leasing a building that

would be detrimental to it’s corporate image and therefore tend to demand only recent

office buildings.

• An insular commercial property market: Croydon tends to rely on existing occupiers

to expand or change building in order to increase take up. The lack of incoming

occupiers means that the town in susceptible to wider economic variables and the

manner in which these affect the sectors located within the town.

• Comparatively low attainment in education and skills: Qualification levels of

residents are below the London average, which could make other competitor locations

in south London more attractive.

• Sector representation: The office market in particular is heavily reliant on the public

sector, which provides a third of all workplace employment opportunities across the

borough. Relative to Great Britain, LB Croydon has relatively high representation in

information & communication and professional, scientific and technical sectors

(location quotient of 1.47 and 1.14 respectively), however compared with London, the

borough has low representation in growth sectors and strengths in lower employment

generating sectors such as motor trades & parts, health, education and retail (1.73,

1.33, 1.30 and 1.21).34

• Image: Croydon’s public realm and amenities are perceived to be of low quality and

this detracts from its locational attractiveness. Croydon CMC has a high proportion of

buildings built in the 1960’s and 1970’s, which have been refurbished over the course

of time though are perceived as being externally unattractive.35

33 FBD Savills (2006); Proof of Evidence of David Williams (title unknown) and Donaldsons (August 2007); ‘Arrowcroft Group

Plc, Croydon Gateway Office Market Report, To Include Q1 and Q2 2007’

34 Location quotient based on workplace employment, ONS Annual Business Inquiry data, 2008, SIC 2007

35 Evidenced by the PACEC report: Croydon Office Market Review (September 2007)



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• Congested roads: While Croydon is served by a number of A-roads, these can

become congested. In particular, the A23 from the M25 Junction 7 to Croydon via

Coulsdon and Purley is a particular source of congestion and can act as a deterrent

for those commuting from outside of the M25 sphere.

Threats

• Competing centres: Central London boroughs offer a greater opportunity to locate

near to complementary businesses. To the south, the towns of Reigate and Redhill

benefit from more modern office stock, driven in main by the construction of the M25

and the increased accessibility. These towns can be accessed quickly from the M25

and M23 and the buildings generally have more generous parking ratios.

• Lack of high quality, new stock: Occupiers can see the lack of recent stock as a

sign that Croydon is stagnating and generally failing to attract inward investment into

the construction sector. Low rents in CMC may discourage some developers from

bringing sites forward, particularly compared to rents received elsewhere in inner

London, e.g. Southwark Bankside (within the SLFPMA). The lack of renewal of stock

means that ‘there is a real possibility that it will lose long-established businesses to

more attractive locations. Its prospects of attracting in-movers are minimal until there

has been some major upgrade of its stock and, just as importantly, of its wider

environment.’ (LOPR, 2007).

• Physical environment: Croydon competes with locations such as Redhill/ Reigate

which are seen as more suburban. These towns in particular, are located within the

Green Belt and therefore provide what is considered a more pleasant environment

with a larger volume of green spaces nearby. In contrast, Croydon is viewed very

much as a London Borough and an urban environment, despite the fact that the Green

Belt reaches within one kilometre of the CMC. The appearance of the 1960’s/70’s

building in combination with other wider economic factors such as crime rate and

deprivation (predominantly to the north of the borough) can influence people’s opinion

of the town before they consider it as a viable location.36

• Corporate retrenchment/ contraction: The CMC’s two key sectors public

administration and financial services have been adversely affected by recent

economic trends and the future outlook for these sectors is currently uncertain,

especially in the light of cuts in public spending announced by the coalition

government. Should there be withdrawal from the town by a large-scale public sector

occupier, such as the Home Office, the result would be large volumes of second hand

space returned to the market, which would have a depressive affect on rents.

Though a number of threats facing LB Croydon have been identified, the borough has the

potential to tackle these and convert them to opportunities.

36 56% of respondents to a survey by the Safer Croydon Partnership (2007), felt that crime or fear of crime in the local area

impacted on firms’ decisions whether to locate there. 46% of businesses interviewed had been a victim of crime in the last six

months.



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9.8 Summary of Local Factors

Table 9.5 presents what affect the local factors are likely to have on each of the land use

types in the SLFPMA and LPMA forecasts. This is in the format of either a higher (�) demand

than the regional forecasts, a lower (�) demand than the regional forecasts or a comparable to

demand to the regional forecasts (�).

Table 9.5: Modified Forecasts

SLFPMA Local PMA

CMC Office (B1a) Local Office (B1a) B2 Factories B8 Warehouses

Local Factors

Investment in transport ��

Realisation of masterplans ��

Rebranding / marketing ��

An enterprising borough ��

Public administration ��

Comparative Advantages

Economic activity ��

Workforce �

Transport / Accessibility ��

Sites and premises ��

Source: URS, 2010

n/a = No comparative advantages made – not applicable

In summary, it is judged that LB Croydon has a number of positive local factors which are

planned or could come forward, and inherent comparative advantages over the competing

centres of the SLFPMA and the LPMA. In combination these factors and advantages could

enable higher rates of growth of office and industrial employment in the borough over the

planning period than those identified in the 2010 GLA forecasts as described in section 9.4

above.

We apply three development rates (low, medium and high, to represent three scenarios of

growth) to each of the employment forecasts for CMC Office, Local Market Office and Local

Market Industrial. The scenarios represent positive growth scenarios, but also the uncertainty

associated with likelihood, risk and timing of large-scale development e.g. whether or not

masterplans will come forward. These different scenarios are shown in Table 9.6 below.

The rates correspond approximately to the higher and lower employment percentage growth

by use class across the different PMAs and LB Croydon, as shown previously in Table 9.2 and

Table 9.4, and a midpoint value between these representing the medium growth scenario. All

scenarios correspond to the 20 year planning period, 2010 to 2031. Growth rates are

explained below.

For the CMC office land use forecast, the three scenarios for employment growth are: high,

SLFPMA office employment growth of 13.0% (rounded to 15%); low, LB Croydon office

employment growth of 4.7% (round to 5%) and a medium growth rate of 10.0%. The market



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assessment by Stiles Harold Williams supports the view that strong growth can materialise in

the CMC.

Following this logic, the local office land use forecast three growth scenarios for employment

growth would be: high, LPMA office employment growth of 10.0%; low, LB Croydon office

employment growth of 5% and a medium growth rate of 7.5%. However, analysis of the local

office markets by Stiles Harold Williams suggests that the demand trend has been weak in

recent years and there have been no new development completions. They are of a firm belief

that demand is likely to remain static with potential for the continued trend of loss to other

uses, such as residential, in the medium term up to 2031. On this basis we halve the high

growth rate and apply a 0% rate for the lower scenario. This gives us scenario growth rates of

0%, 2.5% and 5%, for low, medium and high scenarios, respectively.

For industrial land use forecast, the LPMA and LB Croydon, the forecast percentage growth

are broadly similar: -17.4% to –15.7%. As such the low scenario can be taken as –15.0%. In

order to create a meaningful variance in growth scenarios, and because of the local factors

and comparative advantage of Croydon described in section 9.5 and positive economic

outlook for warehousing sector as explained in section 7, it is considered appropriate to

introduce a high scenario of –5%. The medium scenario is therefore taken as the midpoint of –

10.0%.

Table 9.6: Growth Scenarios, 2011 to 2031

Low scenario Medium scenario High scenario

Office, CMC* +5% +10% +15%

Office, Local* 0% +.2.5% +5%

Industry ** -15% -10% -5%

Source: URS

* = B1a

** = B1b/c, B2/B8

9.9 Summary of Floorspace Forecast

The net growth in demand for CMC Office, Local Market Office and Local Market Industrial

floorspace over the planning period, 2011 to 2031 is set out in Table 9.7.

The gross floorspace forecast is based on the current estimation of floorspace taken from the

VOA multiplied by the GLA employment forecasting model and then presented as three

different growth scenarios. The scenarios are founded on a belief that LB Croydon can capture

a larger share of the office employment market due to positive local factors which are planned

for or proposed and the comparative advantages the location has, as described above.



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Table 9.7: LB Croydon Employment Gross Floorspace Forecast in 2031

Future Floorspace (2031)

Current Floorspace* Low Scenario Medium Scenario High Scenario

Office CMC* 619,000 649,950 680,900 711,850

Office Local* 130,000 130,000 133,250 136,500

Industry ** 943,000 801,550 848,700 895,850

Total 1,692,000 1,581,500 1,662,850 1,744,200


Note: B1a Office data by VOA data by middle layer Super Output Area

* = B1a

** = B1b/c, B2/B8

Table 9.8 below shows the indicative additional floorspace demand in square metres for CMC

Office, Local Market Office and Local Market Industrial floorspace for the short to medium term

period (2011-2021) and the long term period (2021-2031). The estimates are based on the

Table 9.7.

Table 9.8: LB Croydon Forecast of Additional Floorspace Demand (sqm)

Years 2011-21 Years 2021-31 Years 2011-31


Office, CMC* 14,492 28,985 43,477 16,458 32,915 49,373 30,950 61,900 92,850

Office, Local* 0 1,776 3,552 0 1,474 2,948 0 3,250 6,500

Industry ** -94,041 -62,694 -31,347 -47,409 -31,606 -15,803 -141,450 -94,300 -47,150


* = B1a

** = B1b/c, B2/B8

The forecast for additional floorspace above demonstrates that there is projected to be lower

demand for employment floorspace in the short to medium term period compared to the longer

term period. This is likely to be due to the continuing impact of the recession. 37

9.10 Other Relevant Employment Land Uses

Waste Management and Recycling

Earlier this year a document was published for public consultation (between 8 February and 22

March 2010) which sought to gather views on selected sites suitability for waste management

purposes. The overall objective of the South London Waste Plan is to assess supply and

demand for waste and recycling facilities so that sites can be safeguarded in the respective

Local Development Frameworks and the targets of the London Plan. The London Waste

37 This note does not make any reference of rising employment to floorspace densities. For instance, in its preferred scenario,

the LOPR 2007 assumes a rising density of employment to floorspace, increasing from 16.3sqm to 13.9sqm per head.



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Apportionment Study38

, which informs the London Plan, indicates that there is demand for 8.0

hectares of land in the LB Croydon for waste management use between 2006 and 2021, it is

not anticipated that any further sites will need to be allocated for waste management and

recycling usage between 2021 and 2031.

Utilities & Land for Public Transport

URS research for the GLA (2010) suggests that although there will be increased demand for

utilities services, utilities providers are generally expected to renew existing sites, or co-locate

with other land uses, rather than require additional sites on industrial land. The research

suggests that generally there is adequate existing land capacity within the utility infrastructure

networks and assets to accommodate the demand from most of London in the near future.

Likewise, additional land for public transport has been assumed to remain zero in LB Croydon

up to 2026 as URS research for the GLA (2010) suggests that additional land requirements for

land for public transport is likely to be negligible.

9.11 Summary of Employment Land Forecast

The demand exercise indicates an increased demand for B1a floorspace in the CMC between

2011 and 2031. This increase in demand ranges from 30,950 sqm in the low growth scenario

to 92,850 sqm in the high growth scenario. For local office there is also expected to be no

additional demand (low demand scenario) up to 6,500 sqm to in the high growth scenario. For

Industrial and Warehousing additional demand is expected to fall over the period with a

reduction of between 141,450 sqm and 47,150 sqm of floorspace.

The 2004 CLG ELR guidance, states that where possible employment floorspace should be

converted to employment land using plot ratios.39

However, given that the office development

in the CMC can vary considerably (from 3 to 20 plus storeys) it is not considered suitable to

convert the additional demand of office floorspace into land. However, development density

(plot ratio and storey height) tends to be static for industrial and warehousing premises,

typified by a plot ratio of 0.5 (an average figure for industrial and warehousing floorspace, as

recommended on page 101 of the ELR guidance) over one storey. The additional demand for

industrial and warehousing floorspace is converted into land, as shown in Table 9.9.

Table 9.9: Additional Demand for Industrial Land* (ha)

2011 – 2021 2021- 2031 Total, 2011-2031


-18.8 -12.5 -6.3 -9.5 -6.3 -3.2 -28.3 -18.8 -9.5

* = Industry defined as B1b/c, B2/B8

The employment driven forecasts for industrial and warehousing land show in Table 9.9

suggest a declining demand over the period 2011 to 2031. However, the figures in Table 9.9

do not account for factors such as the changing demand for waste and recycling land and the

need to retain an appropriate level of vacant or derelict land for developers to build new

industrial buildings (termed frictional vacancy and normally accepted as being between 5% of

38 GLA London Waste Apportionment Study (Jacobs Babtie on behalf of the GLA, 2006)

39 Page 47 of the Guidance



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total stock). Industrial land demand in LB Croydon should also be seen in the context of the

GLA Industrial Capacity SPG, which states that LB Croydon is in the ‘restricted transfer’

category, that is the release of industrial land to other uses should be restricted in order to

retain an adequate supply of industrial and warehousing land in the borough. The

consideration of these other factors and resulting net industrial and warehouse land demand is

shown in Table 9.10. The mid-range growth scenario indicates that there will be a slight fall in

land demand over the planning period.

Table 9.10: LB Croydon Employment Floorspace Demand, 2011 to 2031

Additional elements of demand for B2/B8 land use Low Medium High

1. Gross supply of B2/B8 Land in LB Croydon in 2010:

B2/B8 = 180.7 ha, which includes existing land for waste mgmt &

recycling, transport functions & utilities; and vacant land *

180.7

2. Net frictional land vacancy requirement to 2031 (Ha):

5% of 180.7ha ** +9.04

3. Additional demand for waste and recycling land:

Figure from the London Waste Apportionment Study +8.0

4. Projected demand in floorspace

Additional demand for industrial and warehousing land (Ha) –

section 9 of this report

-28.3 -18.8 -9.5

5. Gross demand for B2/B8 land 2011 - 2031 (Ha) 169.4 178.9 188.2

6. Net Demand for B2/B8 Employment Land 2011-2031 (Ha) -11.3 -1.8 7.5

Source: URS, 2010

* = LDA London Industrial Land Baseline (2010) p81

** = GLA London Industrial Land Release Benchmarks (2007), p66



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10 REDEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

The forecasting exercise illustrates a growth in demand in office floorspace over the planning

period, under two of the three scenarios proposed (low and medium), the majority of which will

be required in the CMC. Though the forecast indicates a minor decline in industrial floorspace

in two scenarios (low and medium), there is need to consider how industrial sites could be

redeveloped to improve management and operation.

This section considers how and where the forecast growth in office floorspace could be

accommodated and industrial clusters which would benefit from redevelopment. The analysis

set out in this section is informed by the proceeding sections 5, 6, and 7, that is the empirical

evidence collected through the site surveys; an appraisal of site marketability and

development constraints by Stiles Harold Williams; identification of known potential pipeline

deals; and discussions with key stakeholders. This analysis will inform the development of site

specific and generic recommendations.

Below we present a short list of clusters which are best placed to accommodate

redevelopment. The term ‘redevelopment’ is used to describe new build activity; development

that could take place on a vacant / derelict site or in the place of a currently occupied building;

or intensification (e.g. extra storeys added / increase of plot ratio).

Many of the sites in the CMC are likely to come forward as part of mixed use development.

The potential for these clusters to accommodate employment floorspace should be considered

in parallel other LDF related land use studies.

10.1 Clusters Best Suited for Redevelopment

The specific characteristics which determine the potential for redevelopment differ by use

class and location:

CMC Office Redevelopment

Employment clusters surveyed in the CMC area suitable for accommodating B1 office

redevelopment were identified based on the existence of the following site conditions and

wider factors:

• Poor Quality/Ageing Office Stock

• Poor Quality of Public Realm

• Vacant developable land present

• Derelict buildings present

• Low (>50%) building – plot ratio

• Low building heights (in relation to surroundings), and

• High marketability rating and lack of development constraints.

Clusters most suitable to accommodate redevelopment are set out in Table 10.1 and identified

1st, 2

nd and 3

rd priority levels.



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Local Office Redevelopment

Clusters in the ‘Local’ area suitable for accommodating B1 office redevelopment /

intensification were identified based on their possessing the following site conditions, potential

and wider factors:

• Good/ Very Good Quality of public realm / environment

• Vacant developable land present

• Good/ Very Good PTAL rating

• Existing presence of B1 occupiers

• Very Good Access to Facilities and Amenities, and


Clusters most suitable to accommodate redevelopment are set out in Table 10.2.

Local Industrial Redevelopment

Local area clusters suitable for accommodating redevelopment or intensification of B2/B8

activities were identified based on their possessing the following site conditions, potential, and

wider factors:

• Majority of sites in cluster being of Poor/ Very Poor condition

• Vacant developable land available or high degree of building vacancy

• Potential to accommodate SME workspace

• Existing servicing issues, and


Clusters most suitable to accommodate redevelopment are set out in Table 10.3.

10.2 Gross and Net Potential Floorspace

Clusters in the CMC

For CMC clusters, we consider the potential net gain of those sites given a 1st and 2nd level

priority for redevelopment, as per Table 10.1. It is considered that all of these priority 1 and 2

clusters have the potential to come forward during the planning period.

Table 10.4 presents estimates of the potential net gain in office floorspace that could come

forward from these priority 1 and 2 clusters. It is important to consider the net gain for many

CMC clusters do not have vacant or derelict land or premises and therefore redevelopment

would result in a loss of existing office floorspace. For masterplan clusters (CMC 2a, b; CMC

3a, b; and CMC 4a) indicative estimates of potential office floorspace are used.40

, whereas for

other clusters in the CMC (10a, b, 13 and 14), absent of any proposals, the estimates for

potential floorspace have been based on professional judgement of the potential plot ratio, and

40 As per the emerging design concepts of the masterplan sites, provided by the Council’s Urban Design Team early June 2010.

These figures are subject to change and depend on a variety of factors in particular financial viability, marketability and demand

modelling.



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building heights guided by URS’ site surveys and checked by the Council’s Planning and

Urban Design Team.

The estimates suggest that:

• The CMC masterplans with redevelopment priority 1 and 2 (CMC 2a, b; CMC 3a, b;

and CMC 4a) have the potential to deliver a net gain of 76,455 sqm.

• The maximum office floorspace that could be delivered by non-masterplan clusters of

priority 1 and 2 (CMC 10a, b, 13 and 14) is 185,215 sqm.

In total, therefore, the net gain potential of office floorspace is 261,670 sqm – significantly

higher than the high growth demand forecast in the CMC over the planning period, of 92,850

sqm.

Clusters Outside the CMC

Given the relatively static additional demand forecast for office floorspace outside the CMC (0

sqm to 6,500 sqm) and for industry and warehousing land (-1.8 ha, mid-scenario) over the

planning period, the sites listed in tables 10.2 and 10.3 have not been given priority weightings

nor has the potential floorspace or land quantum arising from redevelopment estimated.

The ways in which the minor growth in demand for office floorspace outside the CMC and the

minor decline in industry and warehousing can be dealt with are considered as part of the

recommendations, in the following section.



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Table10.1: Clusters in the CMC Best Suited for Office Redevelopment

URS

Cluster

No.

Cluster Area Quality

of Stock

Quality of

Pub.

Realm

Vacant

Land

Derelict-

ion

Plot

Ratio

Heights Marketability

(1-5)

Attractiveness (Key points) Constraints (Key points) Priority

Tier:

1 , 2, 3

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan Area (West)

� � � 1

• Largest and best known redevelopment site in the CMC.

• Strong awareness among London based property agents.

• Largely vacant site with simple ownership structure.

• Adjacent to East Croydon station and areas of highest footfall.

• Potential to footbridge access between to site and train platforms.

• The site has been mothballed for a number of years.

• Size of site requires greater critical mass for developments or high reliance on residential element. 1

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road)

� � 1

• Excellent location: located on major crossroads; adjacent to George Street - the main pedestrian thoroughfare between Wellesley Road and East Croydon station; close proximity to East Croydon station.

• Planning consent granted for 100 George Street, a 17 storey building offering 258,000 sqft (24,970 sqm) of Grade A office accommodation.

• Established planning for part of the site for the Kramer development.

• Strong potential for ground floor retail frontage.

• Variety of tenants now in place on longer leases.

• Established development proposals require significant critical mass of circa 50% of pre lets.

1

CMC 10b George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street)

� 1 • Excellent location.

• Established location for office and retail uses.

• Low intensity (storey height) of current land use.

• Multiple ownership and established tenants makes redevelopment unattractive and, left to market dynamics, unlikely. 1

CMC 10a George Street and Lansdowne Rd (Dingwall Road)

� � 2 • Part of site has established planning consent for 23,225 sqm of office

• Close proximity to East Croydon station.

• Located within office core of the CMC.

• Site currently unattractive with derelict buildings and occupied by The Job Centre.

• Close proximity to competing East Croydon Station Masterplan. 1

CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan Area (East)

� � � � 2 • Very close proximity to East Croydon Station.

• ‘Quieter’ location on the edge of the CMC.

• Established, well marketed office buildings within immediate vicinity.

• Site in multiple ownership.

• Previous proposals seen as unrealistic. 2

CMC 14 Car Park to north of Lansdowne Rd

� � � 2 • Good location in ‘office core’ close to East Croydon

• Opportunity to improve dated multi storey car park

• Established occupier.

• Close to competing East Croydon Station Masterplan. 2

CMC 13 Cross Road � � � 3 • Close to East Croydon station.

• Close to the East Croydon Station Masterplan.

• Established occupation.

• Peripheral to the retail centre and areas of highest footfall.

• Better sites likely to become available sooner.

2

CMC 3b

Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street)

� � � 3

• The largest site with significant retail capacity.

• High pedestrian footfall in parts also with frontage to Wellesley Rd.

• Likely to become developable within the next five to ten years.

• Image of site tarnished by abortive Park Place development.

• Quality of site has become unattractive and sparsely occupied due to previous CPO process. Dominated by budget retailers

2

CMC 3a Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street)

� � 4 • Centrally located site with good access to Croydon High Street.

• Established retail and office occupiers and uses.

• The site is under multiple ownership.

• Image somewhat tarnished by abortive Park Place scheme.

• Park Street has comparatively low footfall and is dominated by buses.

2

CMC 5 Old Town: Cairo Road

� 2

• Current low density use, therefore potential to increase value through intensification and planning.

• Good access to Roman Way and well served by the Tramlink network.

• Poor location on the CMC fringe directly adjacent to busy raised A rd

• Location is too far from the town centre to be seriously considered as an office location and too far from industrial areas for B2/B8 uses.

• Most marketable as a mixed use/ housing led development.

3

CMC 7 Wellesley Square � 2 • Site has planning for mixed commercial and residential use.

• Close proximity to West Croydon with new London overground link.

• The majority of frontage is to vehicle dominated Wellesley Road.

• Distance from East Croydon station. 3

CMC 9

Land between Lansdowne Road and Sydenham Road

� � 3

• Large site within the office core of the CMC. • Dominated by public sector use (Home Office).

• Too complex for site to be remodelled 3

CMC 11a Whitgift Centre (Wellesley Road side)

� 3 • Established retail and office uses.

• Recent refurbishment of Centre Point.

• Interrelates with Wellesley Road Masterplan.

• Site likely to be expensive to fully redevelop due to existing buildings

• Complex to remodel any intensification 3

CMC 11b Whitgift Centre (North End)

� 3 • Large established shopping centre use.

• Development potential to alter existing rather than build new.

• Site likely to be expensive to fully redevelop due to existing buildings

• Complex to remodel any intensification 3

CMC 6 Between Mason’s Avenue and Croydon Flyover

� � 4

• Good frontage to quieter southern end of High Street.

• Sites dominated by two large office buildings (Leon House and Grosvenor House) and is in multiple ownership.

• Distance from East Croydon Station is the maximum office occupiers would reasonably consider.

3

CMC 12a

North End and Lennard Rd End (East of London Road)

� � 4

• Good sized developable site which has been cleared

• Close to West Croydon station

• Residential and commercial development potential.

• West Croydon is generally perceived as under-developed and lacks critical massing of employment sites.

3

Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey (2010) and Stiles Harold Williams market assessment



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Table 10.2: Clusters Outside the CMC Best Suited for Office Redevelopment

URS

Cluster

No.

Cluster

Area

Condition

of Cluster

Vacant

Land/

Building

Vacancy

Contains

Existing B1

Floorspace

Access to

Facilities

and

Amenities

PTAL Potential

for SME

Work-

space

Marketability

(1-5)

Site Description

C12 Cane Hill � � � � 1

The cluster comprises the former Cane Hill Hospital Site and its grounds. There are several protected buildings remaining, the rest of the site is empty/cleared or designated as a site of importance for nature conservation. The site is earmarked in local policy as a mixed-use B1a/b/c location. The site is large and its characteristics therefore vary due to location. The adjacent road network is of good quality and Coulsdon District Centre is nearby. Potential site to accommodate SME workspace, innovation units and or grow on space.

C19 Purley � � � � 3

The town centre contains some good quality office premises and is well served by public and road transport. At the time of survey, there appeared to be a relatively high level of office vacancy, with some premises above retail being of poor quality.

C20 Coulsdon � � � � 3

Coulsdon contains one medium sized office building and 2-3 car repair workshops, with potentially more office floorspace above retail. There is one cleared site which was a housing development. The district centre is generally well presented and has a range of facilities.

C13 Upper Norwood

� � � � � 4

The cluster is a busy local centre containing limited employment space. Existing workspace (studios and workshops) is of average quality, and could potentially be developed on their existing plots to enhance the provision for creative industries offer. There are also several low-grade offices at first-floor level.

Source: URS Croydon Employment Land Field Survey, 2010



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Table 10.3: Clusters Outside the CMC Best Suited for Industry / Warehousing Redevelopment

URS

Cluster

No.

Cluster Area Condition

of Cluster

Vacant Land/

High Level of

Bldg. Vac.

Road

Access

SME

Workspace

Servicing

Issues

Marketability

(1-5)

Site Description

C2d Purley Way North (Mill Lane Area)

� � � 1

The James Business Park at Mill Lane and neighbouring sites are generally of poor quality, containing older stock with some existing vacancy and signs of dereliction. The cluster is of low density. The environment is currently visually incompatible with its surroundings and there may be some impact on residential use at the access road. Car parking conflict with surrounding land use. Out of keeping with rest of the SIL but has opportunities to intensify.

C6a Selsdon Road (North)

� � 2

This cluster comprises mainly low intensity uses including a car repair shop, builders yard, car storage compound and a cement works. The area is not well maintained and is accessed via a heavily sloping road. There is little parking and the surrounding area is either rail or built-up. Existing uses are demarcated from residential area.

C6b Selsdon Road (Central)

� � 2

This is a well used portion of the Selsdon Road employment area, containing largely industrial uses. There are some issues with its use, such as lack of parking, and some servicing issues, but this does not appear to impact on site occupancy at present.

C7 Vulcan Way � � 4

This is an isolated industrial employment area, which generally functions well. It contains mostly SMEs engaged in B1c/B2 activities. There are several buildings containing serviced workspace. Access is through a residential area, albeit low-density. Site offers good separation from residential areas. Able to accommodate demand from larger businesses from surrounding area.

C11

Land at Warren Road (Aggregates Site)

� � � 2

The Day recycling of aggregates site is well used with good quality, light, structures. Junction improvements have been made to accommodate their use of HGVs. There is however a conflict of uses at the cluster access point, which it shares with Purley Rail station.




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Table 10.4: CMC Potential Net Gain of Priority 1 and 2 Clusters Suitable for Redevelopment


* = Guided by site survey and professional judgement

** = Existing office space figures are estimates by LB Croydon Council

NA + = Not included as gross and net gains in floorspace for masterplan clusters are based on the draft plans provided by the LB Croydon Urban Design Team as of early June 2010

NA - = Not included as the maximum gross and maximum net gains in floorspace for non-masterplan clusters are based on the potential plot ratio of sites (judged) and average potential storey heights deduced via URS site survey and professional judgement

Existing Potential:

Maximum Office Development

Potential:

Masterplan Proposals

URS

Cluster No.

Priority

Tier 1st and

2nd

Cluster Area

Site Area (ha)

Plot Ratio

Height (Storeys)

Existing office

floorspace (sqm) *

Existing Usage Plot Ratio (%)

Height (Storeys)*

Max Gross (sqm)

Max Net Gain

(sqm)

Gross (sqm)

Net Gain (sqm)

Comment

CMC 2a East Croydon Masterplan Area (East)

3.03 60-100 7 10,690 • Taxi rank

• Railway station, lines & siding

• 7/8 storey PO Sorting Office "Porter & Sorter PH" 8 storey B1a office building

• 1 to 2 storey B1c/B1a vacant former meat processor buildings

• Vacant 4 storey C3 apartment blocks

80 10-15 Na + Na + • Gross sqm as per masterplan proposal, as of 16th June 2010.

• Small industrial land use on north east of the site, south of Cherry Orchard Rd would be lost / consider relocation to employment land area.

• Need to consider land use for transport interchange (taxi, buses etc.)

• Masterplan proposals residential and retail land use as well as office.

CMC 2b East Croydon Masterplan Area (West)

6.80 <10 (largely vacant)

Up to 3- 4 0 • Vacant land with D1 (Theatre) and railways storage area, storage yards & engineering works

50 10-20 Na + Na + 146,620 135,930 • Cluster able to accommodate tall buildings.

• Stepped building heights – highest in centre of cluster and lowest along Dingwall Rd / rail tracks. Presence of Railway to acts as site constraint.

• Need to consider re-homing of theatre off Dingwall Rd. and account for Network Rail operational requirements (currently have land on site.

• Masterplan proposals include significant residential and retail land use as well as office.

CMC 3a Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street)

1.44 (all land north of Park St)

90 3 • A1 shops and leisure space fronting onto George Street.

90 4-8 Na + Na + • Gross sqm as per masterplan proposals, as of 16th June 2010.

• Potential for higher to accommodate significantly larger gross office floorspace

CMC 3b

Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street)

2.86 80 4

63,894

• Park Place A1 shops and 6 storey B1a offices (many vacant)

• St Georges House 18/20 storey office building 2/3 storey vacant PH/Club premises

• Listed B1a 5 storey office building (vacant)

80 4-8 Na + Na +

9,000 -54,894

• Key employer - Nestlé – has HQ on east side of cluster.

• Significant vacant office stock, one building understood to be owned by Nestlé to be used as decant strategy for any redevelopment of Nestlé building.

• Currently significant proportion of SME retailers, voluntary and community organisations. Consideration should be given how to accommodate / re-home.

• Would result in a significant loss of SME retail units and office units which are located around the perimeter of the cluster.

CMC 4a College Green Masterplan (North of College Road)

Maste

rpla

ns

0.76 90 4-7 4,581 • 7 storey B1a Office building

• Vacant land – 100 George St. planning consent awarded.

• 4 storey office building

• Suffolk House A1 shops B1a 3storey over (mostly vacant)

90 8-30 Na + Na + 0 -4,581 • Consent for 100 George Street, 23,970 sqm (17 storeys). The schedule indicates that less than 400 sqm will be non-office floorspace

• Prospect to significantly intensify (through new build) the corner location George St. – Wellesley Rd.

• Likely that only one corner of Wellesley Road / George Street could be developed to a height of 30 storeys.

CMC 10a George Street and Lansdowne Rd (Dingwall Road)

0.81 70 10 15,325 • Vacant land – fenced.

• Derelict B1a office building 70 10-12 62,370 47,045 Na - Na - • Neighbouring buildings could constraint storey heights

• Part of site has planning consent [check pipeline figure]

CMC 10b George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street)

0.66 60 10-12 0 (vacant / derelict)

• Norfolk House A1 shops with 1 - 2 storey b1a over and up to 12 storey C1 over

70 10-12 50,820 50,820 Na - Na - • Vacant building could be more intensively used

CMC 13 Cross Road

0.59 25 6 6,000 • 6 storey vacant B1a office building 50 10-12 32,450 26,450 Na - Na - • Vacant 1960s public sector office building in poor condition. Appears not fit for further occupation. There is low density residential bordering the site which could constraint building height.

CMC 14 Car Park to north of Lansdowne Rd

No

n-m

aste

rpla

n s

ite

s

0.87 40 5 0 • 5 storey car park 70 10 60,900 60,900 Na - Na - • Redevelopment of this site would result in a loss of car parking space, which may need to be catered for elsewhere.

Total 100,490 185,215 76,455 Grand maximum net gain = 185,215 + 76,455 = 216,670 sqm.



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11 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This section sets out conclusions and recommendations for the employment land review

buildings upon findings from previous sections of the report.

11.1 Conclusions

Office (B1a) Land Use

Our forecasting exercise estimated that there is additional demand up to 2031 for between

30,950 sqm and 99,350 sqm of office floorspace in LB Croydon. The majority of this demand

is for office space in the CMC. This demand is due in large part to the expected realisation of

masterplans, providing B1 floorspace within the CMC Opportunity Area, and the rebranding

and re-positioning of Croydon as envisaged in its Economic Development Strategy and Vision.

Our property market analysis indicates that the CMC office market typically caters for

headquarter companies and large companies seeking a key location within the wider

SLFPMA. These occupiers are generally prepared to pay higher rents and with a wider

market, and potentially supplier and workforce catchment area. There is a strong presence

here of occupiers involved in public administration, financial and business services and

engineering/construction..

The CMC is a highly accessible location, where businesses have access to a large workforce

catchment area and to central London. Initiatives such as the extension of the East London

Line, the proposed masterplans and rebranding of the CMC are expected to have a positive

economic effect on the demand for office stock and the council should therefore plan spatially

to accommodate this demand in appropriate locations.

Consultations, analysis of the property market and policy evidence indicate that Croydon

contains a high proportion of older office stock, which once vacant proves difficult to re-let

given that characteristics may no longer appeal to modern occupiers. It is thus important that a

measured approach is taken to encouraging refurbishment or site redevelopment to provide

modern floorspace.

In addition to the presence of larger occupiers in the CMC area there is localised B1a

floorspace demand from SMEs. The local office market in Croydon contains a range of small

premises accommodated mainly within town/district centres, such as Purley, Coulsdon,

Norbury and Upper Norwood. There is presently some vacancy within this ‘local’ market,

which consultations and property market analysis have deduced largely to be a result of the

economic downturn or, in some cases, the quality of stock. There has been a fall in supply in

some centres recently, particularly Norbury, owing to development pressure from higher value

land uses.

Although premises in the local market are generally considered to be adequate to meet the

need of SMEs, consultations have indicated that there is some demand for newer, better

quality, premises. In addition, there is anticipated to be some new demand for small office

units generated by Croydon’s drive to be an ‘enterprising borough’. It is noted however that

some of the ‘local’ demand for office space would likely be met by available floorspace within

the CMC, due to its strong borough-wide accessibility, comparatively low rental prices, and

wider range of amenities.



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Industrial (B1b/c, B2 and B8) Land Use

There is a total of 180.7 ha of land currently in industrial use in LB Croydon, with total

industrial floorspace estimated to be in the region of 836,000 sqm. Our forecast shows that

there is projected to be a slight decline in demand for industrial land in the period 2011 to

2031 for the lower and medium scenarios. Factors such as the expected increase in demand

for waste and recycling land and the need to retain an appropriate level of ‘frictional’ vacant

land need to be taken into consideration.

On the supply-side, our qualitative appraisal of employment clusters, and property market

analysis, indicate that, as a whole, the current supply of industrial premises is considered to be

appropriate for the needs of occupiers in the borough and will continue to attract interest from

new occupiers, owing to such characteristics as good strategic road access and proximity to

markets. Although there are many strongly performing areas such as Purley Way South and

Marlpit Lane, some employment areas, and pockets of unallocated industrial land, have issues

such as poor servicing arrangements, poor quality of premises and environment or are

accessed via residential areas, and thus do not perform as well as they might within the

strategic context.

Given the need to retain industrial land to cater for the factors mentioned above, and the

generally strong performance of UDP employment areas, it is considered inappropriate to

recommend the release of allocated employment land in the borough over the LDF plan

period.

There are however areas of UDP designated industrial employment land which could benefit

from intensification, in order to provide a supply of new, modern premises (particularly to

accommodate SMEs), improve the quality of public realm and lessen impacts on neighbouring

sensitive uses. Employment clusters in New Addington and Fieldway are close to areas of

deprivation and provide redevelopment and intensification which could stimulate local

regeneration.

The qualitative survey identified that a number of sites within both strategic and local

employment clusters have been developed in recent years for non-B class land uses. These

include retail, trade-counter, car dealerships and other sui-generis uses. If this trend is allowed

to continue unchecked then employment areas may become further eroded, as developers

may seek to take advantage of precedents set by neighbouring site owners.



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11.2 Proposed Policy Direction

As per the Government’s guidance notes on Employment Land Reviews (ODPM 2004), the

below recommendations for employment land focus on suitability of employment clusters for

the B use class sectors drawing upon comprehensive research and analysis undertaken

through previous sections.

Table 10.4 showed that the maximum development potential of B1a office floorspace tier 1

and tier 2 priority sites in the CMC is significantly larger than the planning period forecast for

office floorspace. However, figures presented in Table 10.4 do not account for other uses such

as retail, residential and leisure uses. It is not within the scope of this research to recommend

alternative land uses for clusters or sites, nor indicate the appropriate mix of uses or storey

height. As such recommendations do not comment on the suitability of CMC clusters for

residential and supporting uses, such as retail and community uses.

It is understood that the Council has recently commissioned a housing typology study, which

will inform strategic planning for housing across the CMC, and an assessment of the creative

and cultural sector in LB Croydon, which is considered to be a potential growth sector. When

developing recommendations for housing provision and business accommodation to support

the creative and cultural sector, the Council should consider the recommendations and

justifications set out below for the designation, retention and intensification of employment

areas.

The recommendations come in the format of a recommendation and then supporting

justification and rationale. The recommendations are presented around the following themes:

a. CMC Office Uses (B1a): Promotion of new, higher density office floorspace (as part of

mixed use developments) in central locations of the CMC which are marketable and

developable. These sites, some of which are located within the proposal boundaries of

masterplans, offer the potential to deliver B1a office floorspace as part of mixed use

developments and reinvigorate Croydon’s urban realm. Their locations within the CMC,

among other things, offer opportunities for business to access an efficient transport

network, access a wide travel to work catchment area with a diverse and skilled labour

market and market, and lower rental values than central London.

b. Local Office (B1a): Encouragement of B1a office floorspace within district, town and

local centres.

c. Industrial Uses (B1b/c, B2 and B8): Protection of industry and warehousing uses

across the borough for B1b/c, B2 and B8 use to limit the loss of land and floorspace

within these clusters to non-employment land use, including the sui-generis use class.

d. Monitoring of Employment Land: Monitoring of take up and loss of employment land

across the borough, with specific attention to non-B class employment use classes.



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CMC Office Uses (B1a)

Our analysis set out in Section 10, within Table 10.1 and 10.3 forms the basis of our CMC B1a

cluster recommendations.

R1 Promote B1a office development in the CMC within tier 1 priority clusters:


• CMC 2b - East Croydon Masterplan Area (West)

• CMC 4a - College Green Masterplan (North of College Road)

• CMC 10a- George Street and Lansdowne Rd (Dingwall Road)

• CMC 10b- George Street and Landsdowne Rd (George Street)

Tier 2 priority sites, having characteristics highly suitable to office development, should

also be the focus of promotion by the Council:


• CMC 2a- East Croydon Masterplan Area (East)

• CMC 13 - Cross Road

• CMC 3b - Mid Croydon Masterplan (Katherine Street to Park Street)

• CMC 3a - Mid Croydon Masterplan (North of Park Street)

Justification

The high scenario forecast for office floorspace over the planning period in the CMC is

estimated to be 92,850 sqm. Our analysis finds that tier 1 and tier 2 priority sub-clusters hold

the greatest potential to accommodate office development over the short to longer term, as

per the characteristics set out in Section 10.1, and analysis of clusters presented in Table

10.1.

Accessibility to central London, client and labour force markets are a key determinant of

occupier preference and demand, and all tier 1 and tier 2 clusters are in close proximity to

East Croydon Station, being located around George Street, Dingwall Road and Wellesley

Road. The site survey and property market assessment identified these locations to be the

most marketable: locations of high accessibility; strong demand characteristics such as high

take take-up rates, rental values, footfall and visibility; and lowest low rates of vacancy. Other

roads with display high levels of marketability are Landsdowne Road, Sydenham Road,

Bedford Park, Park Street and Road Katherine Street.

Any office space arising through the pipeline should be taken into account when planning for

office provision. There are three sites in the pipeline which have planning permission which

could bring forward over 50,000 sqm – meeting over half of the high demand floorspace

scenario. The proposal at 28-30 Addiscombe Road is highlighted by agents Stiles Harold

Williams as a site which could come forward in the short term and leverage further interest in

the CMC. It is suggested that the Council support this and other pipeline proposals.

The tier 1 and tier 2 priority clusters also have significant potential to improve the business

environment, impact positively upon the urban landscape of Croydon, and tackle negative

impressions and perceptions of place. The LOPR, local policy documents, consultation and



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property market assessment all highlight image and perception of Croydon as a constraint to

attracting inward investment. East Croydon is key entry point for arrivals to the borough, yet

the local public realm is average/poor (exacerbated by vacant land/buildings and outmoded,

old office stock. Tier 1 and tier 2 cluster include three masterplans which have the potential to

ensure that the public realm is prioritised. The Council should therefore act to target high

profile developments such as the tier 1 priority cluster East Croydon (West).

The Council should work with developers, businesses and stakeholders to promote the

development of tier 1 and tier 2 clusters listed above. The Council should advise on the need

for a suitable quantum of new grade A quality B1a office floorspace within these sub-clusters.

Local B1a Office

R2 The Council should seek to encourage the retention of office (B1a) floorspace in

District Centres (as defined by the London Plan).

Justification

VOA data records just 130,000 sqm of B1a floorspace outside of the CMC, across the

borough (17% of total stock). Site surveys substantiated the lack of office floorspace within

many district, town and local centres typically ad hoc and small scale in provision. Demand for

office space outside the CMC is forecast to remain static or see slight growth. Purley,

Coulsdon and Upper Norwood are considered to have characteristics (such as accessibility,

development potential and marketability characteristics, as per Section 10.1 and Table 10.2),

which make them more favourable locations to consolidate demand for local office floorspace.

Broadly, the residential market has been more buoyant than the employment land use market

in the past 10 years, which has led to an erosion of potential sites within district, town and

local centres (e.g. Norbury – loss of office floorspace in recent years and development

opportunities to non B-class development). District centres play an important role for occupiers

of the local property market area many of which are SMEs. However we have not found any

substantive evidence of market failure or reasons why some loss of offices to other uses is not

acceptable.

The Council should encourage, but not protect, the retention of office space in district centres,

particularly in Purley and Coulsdon, to ensure a critical mass of employment floorspace

remains in centres. This would also help to support the Council’s vision for ‘neighbourhood’

enterprise and protect local employment opportunities and tackle localised deprivation.

R3 The Council should seek to encourage office (B1a) and light industry use (B1b/c

and B2) floorspace in Upper Norwood, which support creative (and cultural) industries.

Justification

Upper Norwood was identified in site surveys to have a small but established presence of

creative industries. Creative industries require premises which cut across B1b/c and B2 use

classes. They are known to benefit from agglomeration e.g. networks, locational advantages,

supply chain linkages, and suitable provision should be made to enable the sector to grow. In

a highly supply constrained district centre, this recommendation recognises the importance of

Upper Norwood for creative industries and seeks to encourage the provision of land uses to

help the sector consolidate and grow.



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Industrial Uses (B1b/c, B2 and B8)

R4 Protection of all clusters designated as Strategic Employment Areas and

Employment Areas, as per the adopted UDP, and the ‘Strategic Industrial Location’

(SIL) designation, as per the London Plan

All land and premises currently in B1 (a, b, or c), B2 and B8 land uses designated as Strategic

Employment Areas, Employment Areas and Strategic Industrial Locations should remain

designated or allocated for B1, B2 and B8 employment use only. Non-B use class, including

sui generis activities should not be allowed on designated SILs.

All vacant land and derelict premises should be retained for B1 (a, b, c), B2 and B8

development and not released for non-employment land use.

Justification

The mid-range forecast of -3.1ha represents a loss of 1.4% of total land stock. Over the 20

year planning period, 2011-2031, the fall of -1.4% is considered to be negligible compared to

the overall demand. The constrained nature of supply in the borough is recognised in the

GLA’s Industrial Capacity SPG (2008), which places Croydon in the ‘Restrictive Transfer’

category. This means the release of industrial land to other uses should be restricted wherever

possible to land that becomes inherently unsuitable for employment uses, due to

environmental degradation, or unacceptable impacts on surrounding land uses.

Our analysis found low rates of vacant and derelict land - just 2% (6.4ha) of land surveyed.

Vacant and derelict land located on established employment areas offers the potential to

accommodate any employment demand and any loss of this developable land to non-

employment uses would erode the borough’s capacity to adapt to and accommodate future

business requirements, across the borough or specifically within the cluster.

Our survey found that Strategic Employment Areas are the most suitable locations for

accommodating industrial uses, given their site characteristics, low levels of vacancy and the

range of premises within them, and which can accommodate the needs of most modern

occupiers. Other Employment Areas, though more mixed in character, were also generally

well occupied and contain several important local centres for accommodating SMEs.

R5 As per policy EM5 of the existing UDP, allow unallocated sites to remain

protected by ensuring that release to non-industrial uses only occurs where;

• ‘The existing use materially harms residential amenity; and


employment use; and


• The proposed use would not prejudice the continued use of adjacent

employment sites.’

Justification

Industrial and warehousing uses outside the designated Employment Areas provide residents

with the opportunity to live and work locally, and contribute significantly to the economic health

of the Borough. As such it is important for the Council to protect these sites from loss, unless

certain beneficial conditions are met. Policy EM5, as per the UDP, has been slightly amended



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with the word ‘or’ being replaced by the word ‘and’ at the end of the first bullet. This

strengthens the conditions for the protection of unallocated employment land.

Specifically, three sites which are not Strategic Employment Areas or Employment Areas were

surveyed:

• C9 - Bensham Grove

• C10 - Hastings Road (Harris & Bailey Site); and

• C11 - Land at Warren Road (Aggregates Site).

These three clusters remain unallocated employment clusters and as unallocated sites are

protected under this recommendation. The recommendation has also been made in the

context of a projected slight decline in industry/warehousing land (as per the mid-range

scenario of – 1.8ha) over the planning period.

R6 Feasibility study to assess the potential for Cane Hill to accommodate a zero-

carbon technology park, with start up and grow on space for B1a/b/c land uses, as part

of a wider mixed-use masterplan.

Justification

Cane Hill, comprising the former Cane Hill Hospital Site and its grounds has approximately

4ha of developable land which could accommodate B-use class employment. There are

several protected buildings remaining, though the rest of the site is empty/cleared or greenfield

land (the southern end of which is designated as a ‘site of importance for nature

conservation’). Topography will also impact on the location and scale of development

potential.

There are a number of factors which support the suitability for Cane Hill as a site for start up

and growing businesses at this location:

• Good strategic road access with direct links to the A23.

• Adjacent to Coulsdon, the northern most end of the site has better access to District

centre facilities and amenities and the railway station

• Environmental setting offering prospects to create a high quality landscaped setting

• The scale of site with large areas empty/cleared offers prospects for sensitive

masterplanning

• Office premises, which have similar locational characteristics as science and research

premises, are forecast to grow

• Science and technology/research activities require a pool of highly qualified and

skilled workers. The socio-economic characteristics of the borough indicate that the

resident workforce and London residents, broadly considered to live within the travel

to work catchment area, have comparatively high attainments levels (NVQ3 plus) to

Great Britain, and a higher proportion of managers and senior officials; professional

occupation; and associate professional & technical occupations.

However issues include potential diversion of demand away from Croydon town centre. This

could be avoided by targeted the site for niche activities such as a zero-carbon technology

park. The case for such an activity does not though appear to have been developed. We

recommend that a feasibility study is carried out to investigate the market demand and viability



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for a zero-carbon innovation park. It should test market demand by sector, business size and

lifecycle (that is start up, growing and mature businesses). It should also consider how other

forms of development could be provided for alongside, such as residential and leisure. The

feasibility study should place the site in the context of an appropriate property market area,

rather than demand in Croydon.

R7 Promote the provision of start-up and grow-on units for light-industry/storage

and distribution use classes, within the following UDP designated employment areas:

• C2B - Purley Way North (Progress Way/ Commerce Way)

• C2C - Purley Way North (North of Tramlink Bridge)


• C4 - Union Road

• C8A - Marlpit Lane - West of A23

Justification

Research identified a deficiency in the provision of start up units. Croydon’s Vision and

Economic Development Strategy seek to promote the hub if the borough as ‘the Enterprising

City’ with the aspiration to raise enterprise start up, the number of growing business and

retention rates. Since 2007, key initiatives such as LEGI have supported these aspirations and

sought to raise entrepreneurship as a way of tackling economic deprivation.

The clusters identified above offer characteristics which could accommodate B1b/c, B2 and B8

SME unit provision and help to support local, organic economic growth and tackle deprivation.

See section 5.4 and in particular Table 5.10 ‘Employment Clusters with potential to

accommodate SME Workspace’.

R8 Promote improved estate management at the following Strategic Employment

Areas / Employment Areas, with the intention of encouraging redevelopment and

intensification of land use, and improving environmental quality:


• C6A - Selsdon Road (North)

• C6B - Selsdon Road (Central)

• C7 - Vulcan Way

Also promote improved land management at non-UDP designated C11 - Land at Warren

Road (Aggregates Site), to improve environmental quality and interface with

neighbouring uses.

Justification

We believe there is scope to encourage redevelopment of B-use class in those Strategic

Employment Areas and Employment Areas listed above, through improved estate

management.

The five clusters total 16.8ha of employment land. Site surveys observed areas of poor quality

stock (at Purley Way North and Selsdon Road [north]), and vacant and derelict land (1.7ha at

Selsdon Road [central] and Vulcan Way). Two of these sites are considered to have bad

neighbourhood uses. As per criteria set out in 10.1 and the assessment in Table 10.3, these



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sites are considered to be best able to accommodate additional demand in industrial and

warehousing, through new build, redevelopment and intensification.

Examples of recent, successful B1b/c, B2 and B8 redevelopment within the borough include

Commerce Park Way and Selsdon Road South, which provide evidence of demand.

Enhancement of the provision through redevelopment and intensification would support PPS4

objective that vacant/underused land should be better utilised.

The main use at C11 - Land at Warren Road (Aggregates Site), is involved with recycling of

aggregates site. It is well used with good quality, structures and the owners have undertaken

junction improvements to accommodate their HGVs. Though the south eastern boundaries of

the site do not generate bad neighbour impacts and are well segmented from any residential

land use, there is a conflict of uses at the access point, which it shares with Purley Rail station,

and better segregation between the uses is required.

Monitoring of Employment Land

R9 Monitoring development and occupancy in all Strategic Employment Areas and

Employment Areas

The Council should monitor of take up and development, including intensification, of land and

premises across all employment areas within the borough - Strategic Employment Areas and

Employment Areas, as per the adopted UDP, and the ‘Strategic Industrial Locations’, as per

the London Plan. Monitoring will ensure that the correct land uses come forward and sufficient

land is available for economic growth.

Justification

Site surveys observed that employment areas have become eroded by non-B use class uses

(Table 5.11 lists those with a ‘significant presence’). This erosion impacts on the potential

capacity a location has to accommodate employment uses, management capability and

vitality. Evidence supports the need for close monitoring of planning applications, particularly

of employment land and/or premises designed as per the UDP. The borough should adopt a

monitoring mechanism to assess, regularly, all planning applications coming forward for

development and occupation, and any changes in quantum and use class.

Within employment clusters, site surveys observed a significant, recent take up of land by self-

storage businesses. In considering permission for these uses, the Council should reflect upon

UDP policy EM2 which states the need ‘to generate employment which is quantitatively and

qualitatively comparable to uses within those classes’. Though not classified as sui-generis,

we suggest that the Council monitor the take up of self-storage land use on UDP-designated

employment areas and consider, on an annual basis, whether this land use is bringing about

any erosion to the quantum and quality of employment.

The information captured in the survey process and listed in Table X and Table X, which

provides a list of vacant and derelict land/ derelict, is a good basis from which to begin the

record of monitoring loss and could be used to update the Councils monitoring database.

The Council should therefore continue to monitor the take up of land and premises across all

UDP designated Employment Areas and across SILs. Monitoring will ensure the correct type

of land use comes forward and that sufficient land is available for economic growth.



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The Council should look to update the planning applications database, if required. Critically, to

ensure equilibrium between land demand and supply, it is recommended that planning

applications do not contradict the proposed recommendations set out in this review.



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Appendix A – Employment Cluster

Questionnaire



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Employment Cluster Survey Questionnaire

Business Cluster Number (URS): Your Initials: ……… Date:

List any London Plan SIL and/or UDP Employment use Allocation and/ or Site Proposals (desk based)………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The business premises typologies in the cluster are best described as (multiple ticks possible):

� Business district � Waste mgmt / Recycling / environmental industrial sites

� General Industrial estate / business areas � Town centre

� Warehouse / distribution Park / wholesale � Incubator / SME cluster

� Local shopping centre � Local Office Centre

� High quality Business Park. � Local Office Centre

� Storage � Car Repairs

� Other (describe any other uses)…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………

What is/are the main employment and/or other significant land-use/s?

(Mark land uses on map using key in manual)

Mark clearly and precisely any revisions to cluster boundaries on the map (see manual instructions).

Character of premises within Cluster

(Mark on the survey base map the boundaries of distinct areas of premises character within the cluster using key in manual)

Quality of environment and public realm

� Very good

� Good

� Poor

� Very poor

Access to facilities and amenities

� Very good � Good � Poor � Very poor

Comment on quality of environment



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Topography issues

� Yes

� No

Ecological issues

� Yes � No

Bad neighbourhood uses Businesses in the business cluster cause:

� None

� Noise pollution

� Air pollution

� Smell

� HGV traffic

� Significant car traffic

� Other (please comment)

Physical site constraints in cluster? (i.e. access from local road, layout issues, incompatible land use, environmental/nature conservation)

Comment (and mark on map)……………………………………………………………………………………………

The cluster lies within close proximity to / has impact on (multiple answers possible)

� Residential or Community uses

� Town centre

� Local shopping centre � Other…………………………………………………..

Servicing of businesses in cluster

(multiple answers possible)

� Road side loading/unloading

� Off road loading/unloading

� Loading bays

Servicing is adequate for the uses within the cluster � Yes � No � Don’t know

If yes, comment on topography and illustrate on map

Comments

If yes, comments on ecology and illustrate on map

Comment on servicing of businesses



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Parking facilities

(multiple answers possible)

� Dedicated parking within cluster

� On street parking

� Yellow / double yellow lines

� Red route

� Controlled parking zone/paid parking

Parking provision is: � Adequate � Too little � Too much � Don’t

know

Strategic road access (trunk roads) (Observation and desk based)………….……….…………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Access to public transport (Observation and desk based PTAL check)……………….………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Condition of Buildings - % of buildings within Cluster in:

Very Good % / Good % / Poor % / Very Poor %

Total vacant and available B1/B2/B8 floorspace quantum actively marketed within cluster

B1 ….……… B2 ……….… B8 ……..… (Sqm)

(Take note of any property market agent information on vacant and available floorspace and specification)

Are there any Vacant developable sites/ Derelict buildings within cluster

(Y/N):………….….If yes mark clearly on map. What % of the cluster land area do they constitute? .……. %

Has any part of the Cluster been redeveloped in the past ten years for residential/ mixed uses? Or other uses other than those covered by the B use class sectors? (Y/N)…………. If yes mark on map

Comment on parking facilities give reason for judgment on adequacy

of parking provision



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Are any areas within the cluster suitable for adaptation into workspace suitable for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Does the cluster contain a notable presence of high-growth sector occupiers? (Y/N) ……

If yes please name…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Additional possibilities for intensification / redevelopment (Mark clearly on the cluster map, any areas which show potential for intensification and add any additional comments below)

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Photographs

Image number(s) / / / / (min. of 1 image per cluster)

General description of cluster / comments on business cluster

Always describe business cluster, and include any comments you have.



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Appendix B – Croydon Metropolitan Centre

Questionnaire



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Croydon Metropolitan Centre Office Capacity Assessment Survey

Date Surveyor Site Identifier Site number

Identification of site boundary CHECK AND REDRAW AS NECCESSARY

Mixed use or single use MIXED SINGLE

Description of any current uses / activity (sector use - predominant - from visual observation) OFFICE RETAIL LEISURE COMM LIGHT IND RESI

% ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _______

PREDOMINANT SECTOR (BROADLY - See end of q’aire) #

Availability (visual observation, estimate where possible, to check w. SHW) YES NO

%

Quality of stock (visual inspection) VG G P VP

AGE (IF POSSIBLE) 2000+ 1980 to 1999 1960 to 1979 PRE-1960

Plot ratio / building footprint * CURRENT % POTENTIAL %

Are there site specific physical constraints or is there an usual plot size?

Storeys (Average or site specific)* CURRENT # SURROUNDING RANGE # POTENTIAL #

Also to be checked through desk based policy review

Boundary notes / surrounding uses BAD NEIGHBOUR Y N EXPLAIN

TOPOGRAPHIC Y N

ECOLOGICAL Y N

PTAL (desk based)



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DESK BASED

Parking and Servicing CURRENT: VG G P VP

POTENTIAL: VG G P VP

COMMENT

Access to town centre amenities VG G P VP

Quality of public realm in the area VG G P VP

Physical or policy constraints on or adjacent to the site POLICY: DESK BASED PHYSICAL: COMMENT / IDENTIFY ON MAP

Evidence of single or multiple ownership SINGLE MULTIPLE

Evidence of market activity * COMMENT

Overall comment

• AGRICULTURE, HUNTING AND FORESTRY B FISHING

• MINING AND QUARRYING

• MANUFACTURING

• ELECTRICITY, GAS AND WATER SUPPLY

• CONSTRUCTION

• WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE

• REPAIR OF MOTOR VEHICLES, MOTORCYCLES AND PERSONAL AND HOUSEHOLD GOODS

• HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

• TRANSPORT

• STORAGE

• COMMUNICATION (Tourist offices; Radio and tv transmission)

• FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION (Banking, finance and insurance)

• BUSINESS ACTIVITIES (Business services; Dealing in real estate, Research & development; Other services)

• CREATIVE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

• REAL ESTATE, RENTING

• PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEFENCE; COMPULSORY SOCIAL SECURITY

• EDUCATION

• HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORK

• OTHER COMMUNITY, SOCIAL & PERSONAL SERVICE ACTIVITIES

• EXTRA - TERRITORIAL ORGANISATIONS AND BODIES



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Appendix C – Consultation Topics



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Consultation on Employment Land

The stakeholder consultations covered the following topics

Aims of the Organisation

Q. Please tell me about what your organisation does. What types of businesses do you represent

/ work for (by size, sector, products / services, growth phase)?

• Aims/ objectives of organisation:

• Area of expertise / representation:

• Size (employment)

• Sector

• Product / service

• Growth phase (pre-start, start-up, growth, mature)

• Geography (area of representation)

Commercial and Industrial Premises

Q. In terms of quality, price and availability what do you think of the current stock of commercial /

industrial properties? (If possible, comment on office stock in Croydon Metropolitan Centre and

the smaller local town and district centres, and Industrial)

• Quality (incl age)

• Size

• Availability and leasing (flex / short term / long term)

• Price (incl. vfm)

• Geography

Q. In terms of business accommodation, do you think the current stock of commercial / industrial

sites and premises meets business needs? (Consider those business located in the borough and

inward investment enquiries). How does it fall short?

• Major employers

• Small company requirements

Q. In terms of accommodation, are there any particular areas in the borough which fall short of

meeting business needs?

• Where? And what do they fall short on?



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Q. Are there any factors which constrain or act as a barrier to growth? Consider business already located in Croydon and inward investment?

Q. Accommodation (e.g. size of units [grow-on or expansion space], type [flexible, age of

stock, location], technical requirements [consider specific sectors e.g. creative/cultural],

parking provision and servicing)

• Transport / Infrastructure / Access (to workforce, markets, suppliers, etc)

• Workforce (access to good staff, skills, training, education levels)

• Environment (economic and community e.g. education, housing, parks, crime)

• Costs (affordability) / Access to finance / Business support

• Other (e.g. Image/ perceptions of place)

Q. What are the advantages to businesses of being located in the Borough of Croydon?

(Consider: proximity to markets, suppliers, rates / costs, availability of land / sites / space,

local labour, communications, transport, housing, environment, etc)

Q. Which locations have higher levels of demand? What type of sites and premises are in

demand? What is driving demand for these sites / premises and locations? Are there enough

to satisfy? (consider CMC and local and district centres, and sites/premises for SME / larger

employers)

Workforce and Economic Inclusion

Q. Can you comment on the workforce situation in the Borough of Croydon? E.g. is the local

skill-set appropriate/ adequate.

Q. Is it difficult to recruit staff (differentiate between highly skilled and less skilled)? If yes,

why?

Q. What programmes or initiatives are in place or planned for to tackle workforce related

issues? What are the objectives of these programme / initiatives ?

Policies

Q. What kind of projects, policies, strategies would improve the commercial property situation

in the Borough of Croydon?

Economic Outlook

Q. What impact do you think the economic downturn has had on the employment land

property market? What is the outlook over the short term / longer term?

Q. How should policy makers respond to the economic challenges?

Regeneration and Investment



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Q. There are a number of developments which have recently come forward or a planned or

proposed. These include the East London Line extension; masterplans for the CMC; and

expansion of Gatwick Airport. How will these impact on the commercial and industrial property

markets in LB Croydon? (Consider separately and other factors mentioned)

e.g. East London Line

Masterplans (Gateway site, College Green, Mid-Croydon, Wellesley Road)

AOB

Is there anything else that you think is important with regards to properties in the Borough of

Croydon?



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Ind Warehouse Land Assess Update

Documents

post war era

stiles harold

strategically

cherry orchard

excluding

arrowcroft

ideally situated

college green