Cranes, hi-vis and hoardings have become familiar sights to many Croydonians over the past few years. Like much of London, Croydon is experiencing rapid commercial and residential development.
However, the intensity of development in Croydon is unlike anywhere else in outer London. At the Develop Croydon Conference in November, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth Howard Dawber called Croydon ‘the biggest single opportunity site in London’. A glance at the ever-changing Croydon skyline would confirm this.
Looking towards 2025, Croydon’s development shows no sign of stopping. Residents and visitors alike can expect to see a number of large commercial, residential, and public realm projects starting or being completed in the coming year. Here is a breakdown of the main things to look out for:
Westfield
Under the Westfield plans, the Whitgift centre will be redeveloped to include public space, housing, retail and community units
The so-called Westfield redevelopment is perhaps Croydon’s biggest and most controversial scheme to date. However, following years of failed plans and delays, new owners Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) are progressing with the long-anticipated retail and residential redevelopment plans in Croydon Town Centre.
URW’s redevelopment site will cover the Whitgift and Centrale shopping centres and link the North End high street with Wellesley Road. URW has been consulting with members of the public ahead of the delivery of its ‘masterplan’, which will be delivered to Croydon next year.
URW told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the Whitgift Centre will see the majority of change under the plans, while Centrale will remain largely for retail use. While construction is not expected until 2028, URW hopes to deliver the first planning application to Croydon Council next year.
The new development will include the land covering Centrale and Whitgift, and will open up new accessible routes linking North End and Wellesley Road
(Image: URW)
However, in 2025, the Allders building will finally be put back into use after closing in 2021. Earlier this year, Croydon Council announced that URW had been granted permission to build seven temporary retail units along the North End frontage of the building.
The units, comprising five shops catering to local businesses and two food and drink spaces, are intended to revive the site after years of being empty. URW told the LDRS that these new units will only be temporary but are expected to open early next year.
Croydon Town Centre
Pedestrian walkways, cycling infrastructure, and other public realm improvements are expected to be seen throughout the town centre next year. Croydon’s successful levelling up funding bid, which saw the council secure £18.5m for greater town centre accessibility, will fund much of the investment.
Croydonians can expect to see the town centre’s notorious underpasses closed and eventually replaced by surface-level crossings, which will link both sides of the Wellesley Road.
Purley Pool
The Purley Pool is yet another long-awaited Croydon scheme that has attracted much attention in recent years. The pool was closed to the public back in March 2020.
While its reopening has become a key priority for Croydon Mayor Jason Perry, featuring heavily throughout his 2022 mayoral bid, the council has so far failed to reopen it. Plans have since been submitted by the council’s chosen developers Polaska, but have hit stumbling blocks along the way.
Purley Pool has been a major loss to the community
These plans would demolish the building and replace it with a complex containing a new swimming pool, café, and around 250 new homes for older people. However, despite the dire need for housing in the borough, criticism has been made of the lack of affordable housing included in these schemes.
Residents’ groups have also objected to the loss of parking spaces in Purley Town Centre due to these proposals. The plans would see the 424 parking spaces in the existing high street multi-storey replaced with just 50.
While much back-and-forth and a series of lengthy planning meetings are expected, the council hopes 2025 will see the plans for the pool finally nailed down so that construction can begin soon.
East Croydon Station
For many years, the so-called ‘Croydon bottleneck’ has been a problem for rail operators and commuters. The Croydon area is one of the UK rail network’s most congested and complex sections.
East Croydon Station is already struggling with limited capacity, while the intricate junctions to the north, known as the Selhurst triangle, cause delays across the Brighton Main Line and beyond whenever an incident occurs.
This bottleneck also means that journey times will remain under pressure, and the ability to run additional trains to meet growing passenger demand or reach new destinations in the future will be severely limited. As a result, Network Rail has revealed plans to tackle the issue and improve efficiency and capacity.
As part of this, the platforms at East Croydon Station will be increased from six to eight, with four dedicated to northbound services and four to southbound. Accessibility will continue to be improved by lifts, stairs, and escalators to the platforms.
Passengers will benefit from improved facilities, with dedicated directional platform islands to reduce last-minute platform changes, better platform access, and more concourse space. Retail opportunities and a revamped urban environment will also increase, ‘providing a new gateway to Croydon as the area continues transforming’.
Plans for the East Croydon footbridge were first proposed in 2012
(Image: Harrison Galliven)
These works are currently ongoing and are expected to be completed in 2028. While work progresses, trains will continue running through East Croydon Station. The footbridge linking Ruskin Square to the west and Cherry Orchard Road to the station’s east will be fully connected in 2025. Since its conception, the footbridge has been criticised for delays and the fact that passengers cannot access a ticket gate from the Cherry Orchard Road entrance.
Last month, Croydon Council approved plans for a new padel tennis venue near East Croydon Station. The site, located at 1-5 Addiscombe Road, has been empty since 2015 and was once home to the Royal Mail delivery office, which was demolished last year. Work on the venue is expected to begin in the new year.
College Road
Next year, we could also see the start of development on another key site in the centre of Croydon. The College Road site is between two great Croydon landmarks, Croydon College and Fairfield Halls.
Plans for a new mixed-used development would see three tower blocks built, with the tallest reaching 41 storeys. If approved, the plans would see 674 flats made available for rent, with a commitment to include affordable housing and public amenities.
Once complete, the development could be one of the largest co-living developments in the world. Developers Delta Properties are expected to receive planning permission from the council in the coming year.
The new plans will see the construction of a new 13,500-capacity Main Stand.
(Image: Crystal Palace)
Selhurst Park
Following long delays and controversy surrounding the planning process, 2025 should see the start of work to expand the main stand at Croydon’s iconic Selhurst Park. When completed, the stadium’s total capacity will rise from 25,486 to more than 34,000.
After a summer of preliminary work, the club is in ongoing discussions with contractors, aiming to begin the construction phase at the end of the 2024/25 football season. This summer, Crystal Palace signed the final legal agreements with Croydon Council, officially paving the way for the redevelopment. Initial enabling works are already under way, including minor adjustments to the existing Main Stand and preparations for the new construction’s site footprint.
However, as of December 2025, the club warned that a few minor amendments to the original design are now being considered. These include updates to the seating layout to meet new safety standards, adjustments to parking plans to minimise disruption for local residents, and enhancements to the Fanzone, car park and the nearby Sainsbury’s car park. Plans also include improving the entrance to the new stand on Holmesdale Road and refining the materials and overall design.
St Michael’s Courtyard
The one-acre St Michael’s Courtyard site behind West Croydon bus station is another area undergoing a redevelopment that will soon see it house 232 homes, shops and cafes. Developers London Square Partners have designated half of this housing as affordable.
The complex will feature 25 and 21-storey tower blocks and improve links between West Croydon station and the main shopping area. Works are ongoing and expected to continue into 2025.
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