— Section 01 —
Executive Summary
A London PDR conversion with prime station-front location and a planning consent already granted.
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Hero Photo · 7-Storey Office Building · East Croydon Station Frontage
Existing Use
7-storey office (Class E)
81,546 sq ft GIA · 7,575 sq m · Source: Rightmove
Site Area
0.59 acres
0.24 hectares · 16 car parking spaces
Consented Scheme
132 apartments
112 studios + 20 × 1-beds · NIA 59,048 sq ft
Planning Status
PDR granted Mar 2025
Class E → Class C3 · Permitted Development
Guide Price
£7,500,000+
£91.97 / sq ft GIA · Not VAT-elected
Connectivity
16 min to Victoria
East Croydon Station — opposite the building
— Premier Verdict —
At guide price, the deal stacks on the consented scheme — but the studio-heavy mix is its weakness, not its strength.
Capital value of £92/sq ft GIA against a Central London commuter station is genuinely cheap, and the PDR consent removes the largest planning risk. The base-case build-to-sell scenario produces a defensible developer margin. However: the consented mix is 85% studios, which underperform in London's resale market relative to 1-beds. The real upside is in scheme reconfiguration — converting studios to 1-beds at +£50–100 / sq ft uplift — and exploring the upward-extension feasibility already prepared by Stitch Architects. BTR or co-living exits offer institutional liquidity at tighter yields. This is a stronger deal profile than typical regional development land, but execution discipline on unit mix and exit choice will determine whether the margin is 12% or 28%.
| Strategy |
End Use |
Profit on Cost [EST] |
Premier Verdict |
| A · Build-to-sell (consented mix) |
112 studios + 20 × 1-beds, sold individually |
+12% to +18% |
⚠ Stacks but weak mix |
| B · BTS · reconfigured to 1-beds |
~85 × 1-beds, sold individually |
+18% to +24% |
✓ Recommended base case |
| C · Build-to-rent (BTR) |
Stabilised income, sold to institutional |
+15% to +22% |
✓ Strong if interest rates ease |
| D · Co-living conversion |
~150 rooms, professionally managed |
+22% to +30% |
⚠ High upside, planning re-engagement needed |
78
/ 100
Strong proceed
Prototype scoring · [EST]
Location quality
92
20% weight
Planning certainty
90
20% weight
Pricing vs market
82
25% weight
Demand fundamentals
75
15% weight
Execution risk
62
10% weight
Exit liquidity
68
10% weight
Three things every investor must do before offering
1. Validate the studio resale risk. Croydon's recent absorption data on studio-only schemes shows extended marketing periods relative to 1-bed product. Get independent letting / sales agent feedback on the consented mix before underwriting Scenario A. The reconfiguration to 1-beds (Scenario B) likely requires a fresh planning route — confirm with LB Croydon planning before assuming it's a free uplift.
2. Secure construction cost certainty early. London office-to-resi conversions are historically prone to surprise costs — fire safety upgrades (post-Grenfell facade compliance), structural strengthening at lower floors when adding upward extension, and London-specific labour pricing. Engage a London-active QS to pre-cost the scheme before exchange, NOT after.
3. Investigate the upward-extension feasibility properly. Stitch Architects have prepared "indicative feasibility studies for enhanced, upwards extension and new build schemes." This is potentially the largest single value lever in the deal — but PDR does NOT cover upward extension. A separate planning application is required, with all the timing and risk that entails. Don't price it into the base case until LB Croydon position is known.
— Section 02 —
The Problem This Report Solves
Why the Rightmove listing tells you only the headline, not the deal.
What the listing tells you (5 minutes of reading):
- The headline price (£7.5M+)
- The building size (81,546 sq ft GIA)
- The consented unit count (132 = 112 studios + 20 × 1-beds)
- The location (opposite East Croydon Station)
- The planning status (PDR granted March 2025)
- A handful of photographs and key features
That is enough to know it's worth a phone call. It is not enough to make a £7.5M offer plus a further ~£15M of conversion expenditure.
What an investor actually needs to know
Before submitting a credible offer on a London PDR conversion, an investor must answer at minimum:
- Is £92/sq ft genuinely cheap, or is the building constrained in ways that justify the discount?
- What's the realistic GDV under each end-use (sale, BTR, co-living, hotel)?
- What does office-to-resi conversion actually cost in 2026 London — including the fire-safety, structural, and M&E upgrades?
- What's the realistic absorption rate on a 132-unit studio-heavy scheme in Croydon?
- Can the studios actually be reconfigured to 1-beds without re-applying for planning? (Spoiler: probably not for free.)
- What's the upward-extension upside, and what planning route does it require?
- What lender appetite exists for PDR conversions of this scale and what LTC will they support?
- Who do you call — at LB Croydon, at the GLA referral team, at building control, at the utility providers, at the funders?
- What documents do you need at offer, exchange, completion, build, and exit?
- What can go wrong, and which risks are the highest-priority?
The Rightmove listing addresses none of these. This is the gap Premier's investment intelligence reports fill.
— Section 03 —
Listing as Provided vs. Investor Need
Side-by-side: what's on Rightmove and what this report adds.
The investor's question
What Rightmove provides
What this report provides
What is it?
"7-storey office, 81,546 sq ft, Class E"
Section 4 — building condition, floor-by-floor structural readiness, daylight assessment
What's the consent?
"PDR for 132 units (112 studios + 20 × 1-beds)"
Section 5 — full PDR notice analysis, conditions, GLA referral status, BNG implications
Is the price right?
"Offers in excess of £7,500,000"
Section 14 — comparable London PDR conversion sales; capital value pressure-test
What's the unit value?
Not stated
Section 7 — Croydon studio / 1-bed / 2-bed psf ranges with sourced comp evidence
What does conversion cost?
Not stated
Section 7 — London office-to-resi cost £/sq ft with BCIS benchmark + fire-safety allowance
Studio vs 1-bed reconfiguration?
"Potential to reconfigure"
Section 6 — planning route required, cost of replan, GDV uplift modelled
Upward extension?
"Stitch Architects feasibility"
Section 6 — planning route, structural feasibility cost, sensitivity GDV impact
How will I finance it?
Not stated
Section 10 — PDR-experienced lender shortlist, AIP process, LTC assumptions
When will I see returns?
Not stated
Section 11 — 24-month roadmap (faster than ground-up); monthly cashflow
What can go wrong?
Not stated
Section 9 — 22 named risks with severity, probability, mitigation pathway
Who do I call?
Marketing agent only
Section 13 — 35+ named contacts: LB Croydon, GLA, utilities, lenders, professional advisors
— Section 04 —
Site & Building Deep-Dive
A reading of the asset that goes beyond the marketing pack.
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Photo · Front Elevation
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Photo · Station Frontage
4.1 Building Profile
Building type: 7-storey commercial office, modern construction (specific year of build to verify).Real Existing GIA 81,546 sq ft (7,575 sq m) excluding 7th-floor plant.Real
Site area: 0.59 acres (0.24 hectares).Real The footprint is genuinely tight for a building of this scale — meaning floorplate efficiency is high, but external space (servicing, amenity, refuse, cycle storage) is constrained. Important for the residential-conversion brief: London Plan and LB Croydon residential standards require minimum amenity provision per dwelling.
Existing use: Class E (office). Vacant on completion (assumed — verify pre-offer).Est
Parking: 16 car spaces directly in front of the main entrance.Real For a 132-unit residential scheme this is a low ratio (0.12 spaces / unit) — but the station-front location actively favours car-light development, and a low parking ratio may reduce the GLA's affordable housing scrutiny on the scheme.
4.2 Location · Why Station-Front Matters
East Croydon Station
Directly opposite — < 50m walking distanceReal
London Victoria (fastest)
16 minutes by trainReal
London Bridge (fastest)
17 minutes by trainEst
London Gatwick Airport
~15 minutes by trainReal
Tram services
Croydon Tramlink connects to Wimbledon, BeckenhamEst
Bus services
Major interchange at East CroydonEst
Strategic interpretation — station-front location is the single biggest positive in this deal. Croydon residential pricing is heavily distance-decay sensitive: every 5 minutes of walk-time from the station typically reduces values by 8–12%.Est A building directly opposite the station commands a station-premium that mid-Croydon stock cannot match. This is why £92 / sq ft GIA is genuinely cheap — comparable PDR plays in non-station-front Croydon would trade closer to £110–130 / sq ft.Est
4.3 Why This Profile Differs from Regional Development
For Premier readers comparing this opportunity to regional development land (e.g. our Barrow Brook, Clitheroe report), the deal economics are fundamentally different:
| Factor |
Regional Industrial Land |
London PDR Conversion |
| Planning risk |
High — outline, RMA, S106, S278 |
Low — PDR already granted |
| Infrastructure cost |
Very high — roundabout, utilities, S106 |
Low — building exists, services in place |
| Development period |
36 months (offer to exit) |
18–24 months (offer to exit) |
| End values £/sq ft |
£8–11 / sq ft rent (regional industrial) |
£450–575 / sq ft sale (London commuter) |
| Construction cost £/sq ft |
£75–95 (industrial shell) |
£140–180 (resi fit-out, fire safety) |
| Exit liquidity |
Limited regional buyer pool |
Deep — BTS, BTR, co-living all bid |
| Specific risk |
Regional letting demand, build cost inflation |
Studio absorption, fire-safety surprise costs |
Net comparison: the Croydon profile carries different risks, not lesser ones. Lower planning risk is offset by higher build cost per sq ft and London-specific build risks (fire safety, party wall, neighbouring residents). But the strong fundamentals — station frontage, deep buyer pool at exit, proven London demand for sub-£500K commuter homes — make this a more liquid deal than the equivalent regional industrial scheme.
— End of Prototype Sample —
This is sections 1–4 of an 18-section report.
The complete prototype document continues with: PDR Consent & Reconfiguration Routes (5) · Four Strategy Scenarios with detailed economics (6) · Full Financial Appraisal with sensitivity tables (7) · Cashflow Model (8) · Risk Register with 22 named risks (9) · Funding Strategy & AIP Process (10) · 24-Month Execution Roadmap (11) · Investor Document Checklist stage-by-stage (12) · Stakeholder Contact Directory with 35+ named contacts including LB Croydon, GLA, lenders (13) · Comparable London PDR Transactions (14) · London Resi Market Outlook (15) · Decision Matrix with buy/walk thresholds (16) · Methodology & Assumptions Log (17) · Appendix: Glossary & Disclaimers (18).
Total document length approximately 10,500 words. Sample shown is approximately 15% of the full document.