Facts about Croydon - London's biggest borough

One of the London Plan’s opportunity areas

Education

  • 33% school students qualified to NVQ4 (national 29%)
  • 73% of pupils gained five A*-C grade GCSEs
  • 25% of the population is under 18

Transport

  • 16 minutes by train from Victoria and Gatwick Airport
  • London’s only tram network carries 27 million people a year

Residents

  • 42% of Croydon’s workforce work within 5km of home
  • Largest population in London 339,000

Clean and green

  • Over 300 parks making one third of Croydon green spaces
  • Seven Green Flag parks
  • Happy Valley offers over 100 hectares of grass and green woodland

House prices

  • Average £227,014
  • Detached £437,066
  • Semi-detached £261,531
  • Terraced £201,106
  • Flat £165,206

Source: Land Registry Sept 2009

Retail

  • 14th in UK retail ranking
  • Over 230,000 sq m of retail space
  • Whitgift shopping centre has 140 stores
  • Over 60 shops in Centrale mall

Culture, eating out

  • Fairfield Halls seats 1,789 and The Beatles and Elton John have graced its stage
  • South Croydon’s Le Cassoulet won Time Out’s Best Local Restaurant 2008

There's more ...

  • Average gross weekly earnings £498
  • 93% employment is in SMEs
  • Pilot authority for the HCA’s single conversation