Croydon on co-living: ‘It’s not about the size’
Croydon Council leaders have said they are open to smaller co-living flats but warned the housing type may not be suitable for people’s changing needs in the future.
Speaking at the 2019 Develop Croydon conference, the council’s executive director for place, Shifa Mustafa, said: “It’s not just about size, but how it’s done. You get examples of poor quality and good quality.” She added: “It does fulfil a need in the market.”
However, Mustafa said hype around micro-flats and build-to-rent could lead to market oversupply. “There was certainly a period in the market where everybody was talking about micro-flats and build-to-rent. In my view there will become a point when there is too much of the that in the market.”
Croydon Council leaders have said they are open to smaller co-living flats but warned the housing type may not be suitable for people’s changing needs in the future.
Speaking at the 2019 Develop Croydon conference, the council’s executive director for place, Shifa Mustafa, said: “It’s not just about size, but how it’s done. You get examples of poor quality and good quality.” She added: “It does fulfil a need in the market.”
However, Mustafa said hype around micro-flats and build-to-rent could lead to market oversupply. “There was certainly a period in the market where everybody was talking about micro-flats and build-to-rent. In my view there will become a point when there is too much of the that in the market.”
Colm Lacey, chief executive of the council’s development vehicle Brick by Brick, said: “Micro-flats are not flexible. The challenge with smaller units is they allow for how people’s lives change over time.
“It may very well be something which suits them at a moment in time, but their lives will change and housing should be able to change with them.”
Croydon has seen huge numbers of micro-flats developed through permitted development rights at schemes like Inspired Homes’ iconic Innova. However, to date it has not yet had a single co-living scheme, and the 2018 Local Plan does not provide guidelines on the controversial use class.
Tide Construction is currently working up plans for London’s largest co-living scheme at 836 bedrooms at the former car park on College Road.
Stretching to 48 storeys high, it would be the world’s tallest modular tower, beating Tide’s previous record of 44 storeys at its neighbouring site where it is delivering 546 BTR flats for Greystar.
The developer has conducted a series of pre-application meetings with Croydon Council planning officers and met with the place review panel. According to council documents, discussions have focused on the co-living layouts, the height, affordable housing and the public realm.
Tide has proposed studios at an average size of around 25.3sqm. This is significantly higher than The Collective’s average size at Old Oak of 17.9 sqm, and within the 20-30 sqm guidance from the Greater London Authority.
The PRP panel has asked for more information with examples, to support the justification of the appropriate space standard and design for the individual units. It said the concept of co-living could work for the site given its proximity to the town centre.
A planning application will be referred to the Mayor of London.
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