Hundreds of hopeful buyers visited the Croydon Property Show, organised by White Label, on Saturday as house prices continue to tip in favour of first-time buyers and Croydon undergoes a £5.2bn regeneration.

Attendees were given all the information they needed to purchase their new home in one of London’s hotspots at the Croydon Park Hotel, with representatives from organisations such as Help to Buy, Bellway, Brick by Brick, Red Loft, R&F Properties Queen’s Square, Asra Housing, Leon, HSBC, Nova Financial and Croydon Council, all on hand to guide them.

Councillor Alison Butler, the deputy leader of the London Borough of Croydon opened the show with a speech demonstrating the perks – and parks – of Croydon.

She said: “Croydon has so much to offer with many really good and exciting things going on.

“As a place to live, we are a really green borough, with 127 parks and open spaces. We’ve got great schools that are doing really well.” she added.

“Whether you want to move within Croydon, or actually move into the borough, then you are really welcome to walk around the town centre to see just some of the excellent developments that are happening.

“We are getting more and more businesses coming to set up in Croydon from central London. But we also have a lot of talented people in Croydon who are setting up new businesses. So, there are all sorts of opportunities that are attracting people here.”
Amber Zhao, a young professional who currently lives in West London, attended the show and agrees with Alison Butler’s assessment of the area, she said: “I am looking for a two-bed apartment and I think Croydon is a really good place to buy at the moment.

“Coming to the Property Show has given me a really good insight to everything that is available here.”

Guests were also able to attend a variety of talks giving them the lowdown on the property market in Croydon and what the area has to offer those who live there.

Laura Ellis, an equity loan manager at Help to Buy London, guided potential buyers through the daunting but incredibly rewarding process of buying a home in the first talk of the morning.

Rich and Vicky Fairhead who visited the show from Streatham Hill with their baby Alf found this advice particularly useful. Rich said: “We want to buy in Croydon because you can get so much more for your money than you can get elsewhere in London. We also like all the regeneration that is happening in the town.

“The Property Show has been really useful because it is great to have everything under one roof – we are interested in the new developments and in Help to Buy and we could find out about both here.”

For those looking to buy to let, Paul Mahoney, founder and managing director of Nova Financial Group, shared his wisdom.

Given the decline in house prices and tighter mortgage regulation, more investors are shifting their focus from capital gains to yields and Paul Mahoney provided an explanation of the opportunities and potential pitfalls of the buy-to-let route.

He said: “When it comes to investing in property in Greater London, Croydon can’t be overlooked. At a lower than average price point, higher than average yield and when considering easy commutability, significant job growth and infrastructure spending; Croydon is perfectly placed to gentrify and experience significant capital growth with sustained rental demand.”

Michael Purefoy, head of sales and marketing at R&F then revealed their vision of setting up a UK base outside of China. He also discussed the company’s reputation in China and their commitment to delivering a new community in Croydon town centre.

Michael Purefoy said: “We think it is such an exciting time to be involved in Croydon. In addition to our scheme, there are so many fantastic things happening here and we are so proud to be part of that. At the Croydon Property Show we were delighted to meet so many people who shared our passion for regenerating Croydon. We had lots of enquiries about the Queen’s Square development.”

The Queen’s Square scheme involves rejuvenating an iconic 1960’s office building, world-class amenities including a gym, residents lounge, concierge, roof gardens, work space as well as offering each apartment their own balcony.

The programme of talks concluded with Why live in Croydon? with Develop Croydon Chairman and SHW Partner Richard Plant and the Founder of East London Cool Maddy Duxbury demonstrating to attendees that Croydon isn’t just good value for money in the London property market but a great place to live.