Croydon’s forward-thinking approach that has achieved quality growth and placed the borough as a leading market disruptor was the emphasis at LREF, London’s premier real estate event, last week.

Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, Jules Pipe, endorsed the work that the London Borough of Croydon is doing as a leading example saying: “Croydon is the city that London is connected to.”

At the Brick by Brick’s Borough Breakfast event he said the GLA wants to see good growth amongst London boroughs and stated: “Croydon needs less help than others as it has been at the forefront of achieving really good growth in terms of quality, forward thinking and its numbers. I know we are expecting Croydon to do a lot but they are really rising to the challenge and I would urge many boroughs in London that it is worth looking to Croydon and what they are achieving.”

London Borough of Croydon Chief Executive Jo Negrini then discussed how Croydon is changing the way it works in order to improve, creating its own development company and making itself a market disruptor: “What has happened in the last five years is that the funding picture has really changed. It’s about how we use the market to ensure we maximise the income that is coming into the council budget to spend on the areas we need to like children and adult services. Councils are getting involved in the market and the relationship the market has with the councils now has to be very different.

Every local authority and chief executive I know are all thinking differently about their role within their place and it’s not about just delivering services but influencing through disruption and I think what we want to see in Croydon in our next phase of regeneration is a new relationship with the market which is about equity and equality and driving improvements by using the market for the people who live in Croydon.”

The London Borough of Croydon exhibited at LREF at the HAC Grounds on 12th and 13th June in partnership with Develop Croydon, Tide Construction and Schroder and Stanhope’s Ruskin Square.

Croydon also had representatives on some of the events key panels across the two days including Heather Cheesbrough, Director of Planning and Strategic Transport on the Student Life panel and Shifa Mustafa, Executive Director of Place on the Croydon, Sutton and Kingston panel, with both describing how Croydon is open to new ideas and innovation.

Heather discussed the opportunities the town has to deliver for its younger population and students looking to live in the town as part of its new creative campus, in partnership with London South Bank University, she said: “How we think about co-living space and educational access makes a difference to what we need to be able to offer residents of all ages, particularly the borough’s 93,000 under-18s.

“Living, working and studying are all entwined in today’s world, the physical built environment is strengthened when combined with digital efficiencies and effective infrastructure. We are keen to learn and to work with developers on how to offer valuable living choices.”

Shifa said: “Croydon’s growth projection is huge and I have certainly not worked on anything like this scale before. In terms of value it is over £5 billion of growth in the next 10 years. We are innovative and very pro-growth, we are not frightened by tall buildings, we currently have the world’s tallest modular tower being built at 101 George Street, Croydon is bold in its agenda for housing intensification.”

Shifa also discussed the plans coming forward for Croydon including its position as a creative enterprise zone, the opening of Fairfield Halls, the new shopping centre by Unibail Rodamco Westfield and Hammerson creating a new retail destination and its recent partnership with London South Bank University providing new opportunities for Croydon’s youth population.

The next event on Develop Croydon’s calendar is the Develop Croydon Conference at the newly refurbished Fairfield Halls on 19th November, where it will be celebrating its 10th year, looking back at how the town has changed and its future vision for the borough. To find out more visit www.developcroydonconference.co.uk.