Croydon is ready – delivering growth for our borough

By Executive Mayor Jason Perry

This year Croydon has become the first borough in London to launch a local Growth Plan. We are not waiting for change — we are making it happen. That includes a bold new Town Centre Vision, backed by £30 million in immediate investment.

Since the launch at Croydon’s BOXPARK in May, I have been actively promoting Croydon as a prime investment location – most recently at UKREiiF (UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum), where our delegation made the case directly to investors, developers and policymakers from across the UK and beyond.

The feedback was resounding: Croydon has scale, clarity, and serious intent. Our Growth Plan is the right approach – coordinated, focused, and deliverable – with real opportunities emerging across the town centre and beyond.

That includes areas like Purley Way, which is already home to major employers and vital infrastructure. It has the scale and potential to become a modern logistics and industrial innovation zone, well connected to both Gatwick and the M25.

We are also unlocking much-needed housing. Since I took office, over 4,000 new homes have been granted planning permission. We are pushing forward with high-quality schemes that meet genuine need and respect local character, with more than 20,000 new homes planned across the Croydon Opportunity Area over the next decade.

Croydon is London’s southern powerhouse. It is the capital’s largest borough, one of its youngest and one of its most connected. A city within a city. A place with depth, edge and drive. That is why I have set out five clear priorities in our Growth Plan:

- Reimagining the town centre as a new kind of city district; not retail-led, but culture-led, experience-led and connected

- Investing in our district centres; from Thornton Heath and Selhurst to South Norwood and Purley

- Unlocking key strategic sites and reigniting delayed developments

- Backing enterprise, education and innovation

- Making visible, tangible progress on the ground

As part of our Town Centre Vision, I have also announced £30 million of investment secured by Croydon Council to deliver improvements and reconnect different areas of our town centre. Works begin this July on a new surface-level pedestrian crossing in Wellesley Road – a key step toward reconnecting East Croydon with the heart of the town.

Croydon is strategically positioned at the crossroads of South London and the wider South East and we have enviable transport links that make it an attractive borough to live, work and invest in. The Trams system is in line for investment, with a new fleet of air conditioned trams being developed by Transport for London (TfL), and we have London Gatwick just a short train ride away.

I recently met with London Gatwick’s leadership to discuss their growth plans and reaffirm Croydon’s role as a key partner in the Airport Economic Zone, which already brings £265 million into our local economy each year and supports over 3,600 jobs. With more than 1,000 daily trains, Croydon has the infrastructure to support Gatwick’s future growth - particularly in logistics, skills and innovation.

June also saw the launch of South London Partnership’s Growth Ambitions Statement by the boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton, alongside Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth Howard Dawber. The plan confirms our commitment to deliver long-term, locally driven growth and driving forward sectors such as health and life sciences tech, creative and digital industries, environmental innovation, and advanced manufacturing. It also reinforces Croydon’s growing position as the capital of South London – and a southern gateway for investment and opportunity.

The partnership is now calling on government and investors to back key infrastructure projects, invest in people and skills, and support innovation across South London.

Finally, South London had another reason to celebrate with Crystal Palace FC’s historic FA Cup win at Wembley in May. This was followed by a tremendous victory parade and celebration at Selhurst Park, the streets thronging with supporters and reinstating a sense of pride in our home town. The club is also playing in the UEFA Conference League in Europe this season –putting Croydon on the map, unlocking economic value for our borough, and hopefully giving us supporters something else to celebrate.