[Last updated January 2024] A guide to serviced offices and office space to rent in Croydon as well as general information that may be useful if you are thinking of renting office space in the town.
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History & Geography
Croydon is a commuter town in South London, approximately 9 miles south of Charing Cross. Directly to the south of the town is the South Downs, which stretch to the white cliffs of Dover. To the north, Croydon is bordered by Selhurst and South Norwood. While there is evidence there may have been a Roman settlement in the area, the first recorded history of Croydon is after the Norman invasion in 1066 when William the Conqueror bestowed the settlement on Archbishop Lanfranc. The town appears in the Domesday Book as ‘Croindene’. In the 13th century, permission for a weekly market to be held was acquired and this became the foundation of Croydon as a town. By the 16th century, Croydon was one of the most important market towns in Surrey and its population had grown significantly. The town was also the location of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s summer house, called Croydon Palace, and often received visits from the royal family and other important personages. In the late 18th century, Brighton became a trendy resort and this increased traffic through Croydon, turning it into an important stagecoach halt. Between 1801 and 1901, the town’s population multiplied 23 times due to increased communication with London by rail and canal. This resulted in overcrowding and health and sanitation problems, leading to Croydon becoming one of the first-ever English towns to have a Board of Health. As early as the Victorian age Croydon became popular with members of the middle class who worked in London. The leafy suburb was perfectly placed for this, with the fast train to London taking a mere 15 minutes. In the early 20th century much of the town’s slums were cleared out and infrastructure vastly improved. Croydon was heavily bombed during WWII and suffered especially from the V-1 and V-2 rockets. During the late 1950s and 60s, many large multi-storey office parks were built and businesses were given incentives to move their offices out of London into Croydon. As a result, the town became a thriving business centre and remains so to this day.
Economy
Today Croydon remains one of London’s most populous commuter towns but is also a commercial and retail centre in its own right. Recently, Croydon has become a popular shopping destination and has several sizable shopping centres including the Whitgift Centre and the Drummond Centre. Croydon is the second-largest place to shop in the southeast outside of central London. However Croydon is not simply a retail centre, it is also a business hub. After the Square Mile and Docklands, Croydon is London’s third-largest business district and the largest in South London. The town has many high-density office towers such as Nestle Tower, home to the UK headquarters of the food giant. Additionally, many legal and insurance firms are located in Croydon and the town has won the Enterprising Britain Award as ‘the most enterprising borough in London’.
In April 2023, it was announced in Property Week that the multi-billion-pound plans to redevelop the town centre looked to be reborn following the shopping centre giant, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s (URW’s), purchase of owner, operator and developer, Hammerson’s, 50% stake in the 25-acre Croydon Partnership.
Culture
Croydon is home to several popular art venues, the foremost of which is Fairfield Halls, which since being opened in 1962 has hosted a myriad of famous acts including the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Status Quo and others. The most eminent theatre in the town is the Warehouse Theatre which is known for promoting new writing, comedy and youth theatre. Also, the famous BRIT School for performing arts and technology is based in nearby Selhurst and claims among its alumni Leona Lewis, Adele, Katy Melua, Amy Winehouse and The Kooks. Croydon also gave birth to the genre of Dub Step, a unique blend of Jamaican Dub, UK Garage and drum and bass. Many DJs seminal to the genre, including Benga and Skream polished their skills in the town’s famous but now defunct Big Apple Records on Surrey Street. There is also a thriving rock scene in Croydon and the bands 5th Man Down, Frankmusic and Noisettes all hail from the town. Other famous musicians who come from Croydon include the composer Samuel Taylor Coleridge who was born and died in the town.
Transportation
A major reason for Croydon’s rampant economic success is its excellent transport links. Croydon is linked to Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Central London through the Brighton Main Line. Direct services are provided to Hastings, Southampton, Brighton, Portsmouth, Gatwick Airport, Bedford and Luton. East Croydon Station is the main station for these services and is located in the town centre to the east. West Croydon Station meanwhile serves all westward-bound trains. It is served by the East London Line which includes the destinations of Surrey Quays, Shoreditch, Dalston and Highbury. In Croydon itself, the main transport consists of bus networks operated by Transport for London. There is also a light rail system, dubbed Tramlink, that was opened in 2000. Tramlink serves millions of passengers a year and is centred on a Croydon loop as its hub.
Croydon is just 20 minutes from central London and currently has 2 underground/overground stations, 15 railway stations and 25 DLR/Tramlink stations.
Office space to rent in Croydon
In 2013, Croydon had more office space than any other town in the area surrounding central London with a 2.1% share of total London office space.
Pre-pandemic, the Borough of Croydon was being transformed through a £5.25 billion regeneration programme which planned 8 new hotels, over 2 million sq ft of Grade A office space and 8,000 new homes.
Croydon’s vacancy rate had fallen significantly in the run-up to 2020 highlighting a thriving market – there was sustained demand, a lack of new stock and overactivity in converting existing office space into residential. This has pushed vacancy rates down below 5% and caused rents to increase by over 60%.
While rents increased in Croydon, they are still significantly lower than in Central London.
The demand for office space was highlighted by some notable deals including those by EDF Energy and The Body Shop – both companies moving their headquarters from central London to Croydon in 2017.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) also moved 2,500 civil servants into all 9 floors of Building 1 at Ruskin Square and signed a traditional institutional lease with a 25-year term. Ruskin Square is a 9-acre scheme delivered by Stanhope and Schroders with blueprints for another 1.8 million sq ft of developments.
In January 2024, it was announced that HMRC had purchased its headquarters at 1 Ruskin Square which was developed by Schroders Capital and Stanhope, for a reported £115 million.
In 2021, take-up in Croydon reached 95,300 square feet which was a 100% increase on 2020’s total. In the same year prime office rents were being quoted at £39.50 per square foot.
Some of this take-up could be attributed to HMRC’s expansion although a notable deal was London South Bank University’s acquisition of 56,000 square feet at Electric House.
There is a 730,000-square-foot development pipeline that will be delivered before 2027 including a new scheme opposite East Croydon Station where agents are predicting they will achieve early £40.00’s per square foot rent.
There are 13 serviced and managed office options as well as co-working spaces throughout the borough. Serviced office providers including Citibase, Dexter Group, Bizspace, Capital Space and Square Root all provide flexible workspace options in Croydon, and Regus have recently opened their second serviced office building at Interchange House on Station Road.
Profiles of all providers in Croydon can be seen in this directory.
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