Guide · 22 October 2026

Building costs and house prices in Croydon

Croydon covers a lot of ground, from the tower blocks and offices of the town centre to Victorian streets in the north, interwar suburbs around Coulsdon, Purley and Shirley, and hilly, green-belt edges at Kenley and Sanderstead. Its homes are mostly houses, and many of them have gardens and space to the side. That makes it a borough where people seriously weigh up extending against moving, and where a loft or a side extension is often a realistic option.

The Census 2021 accommodation-type table (TS044, via Nomis) shows how the borough is made up. Of Croydon’s 152,946 households, 12.2% lived in a detached house, the fourth-highest share in London after Bromley, Hillingdon and Kingston upon Thames, and double the London figure of 6.1%. Another 24.7% lived in a semi (London: 18.6%) and 23.3% in a terrace (London: 21.3%). Only 29.0% lived in a purpose-built block of flats, against 40.3% across London, and 8.5% in a flat inside a converted or shared house. So about 60% of households had a whole house, well above the London share of 46%.

Croydon house prices in August 2026

The latest UK House Price Index from HM Land Registry and the ONS, published on 21 October 2026, covers August 2026 (provisional). It puts Croydon’s average price at £396,718, which is 1.5% lower than a year earlier and 1.3% higher than in July. London as a whole fell 2.2% over the year, to £554,430. Croydon is the third-cheapest of London’s 33 local authority areas on this measure, after Barking and Dagenham and Newham, and about £158,000 below the London average. Prices peaked in January 2023 at £430,260 and are still about 8% below that. First-time buyers paid £332,560 on average.

Every type of home in Croydon averages well under the London figure for the same type: about £316,000 less for a detached house, £186,000 less for a semi, £244,000 less for a terrace and £169,000 less for a flat. The August release notes that across London house prices rose over the year while flats fell 5.0%. Croydon doesn’t quite follow that pattern, because all four types dipped, but flats again fell the most and semis barely moved. These are borough-wide averages from the HPI full data file. They will be revised in later releases, and they can’t tell you what a particular home is worth.

Is it cheaper to move or to extend?

On August’s averages, moving from a terraced house to a semi in Croydon cost about £140,000, and from a semi to a detached house about £304,000. Going from a flat to a terrace added around £147,000. On top of those gaps you would pay stamp duty, legal fees, surveys and removals.

No one publishes building costs for Croydon on its own, so the figures below are national ballparks. Checkatrade’s house extension cost guide, last updated in June 2026 and checked by estimators who are members of RICS and the CIOB, gives these UK ranges excluding VAT:

• £1,800–£3,000 per m² for a finished single-storey extension, so £40,000–£56,000 for 20m² or £60,000–£84,000 for 30m²
• £45,000–£75,000 for a 25m² first-floor extension, for example over a garage
• £108,000–£180,000 for a 60m² two-storey extension
• £50,000–£95,000 for a 30m² loft conversion
• £100,000–£160,000 for a 40m² basement
• £8,500–£20,000 for a 15m² garage conversion

Checkatrade says its costs aren’t based on location and that builders in London and the South East usually charge more, so plan for Croydon quotes above these ranges. Here the sums are closer than in pricier boroughs. The £140,000 jump from a terrace to a semi is about the same as the top of the range for a large single-storey extension or the bottom of the range for a two-storey one. A loft or a modest rear extension still costs well under that gap, and a two-storey extension is roughly half the £304,000 step from a semi to a detached house. Extending won’t change what kind of house you live in, and no one can promise what the work will add when you sell, so treat these numbers as a budget check rather than a forecast of profit.

What you can build without planning permission

The national permitted development rules, explained on the Planning Portal, usually let a single-storey rear extension go 3 metres beyond the original back wall of a semi or terrace, or 4 metres on a detached house, without a planning application. Under the prior approval route those limits rise to 6 and 8 metres. A single-storey side extension can be up to 4 metres high and no wider than half the original house, and an extension of more than one storey can go back 3 metres if it stays at least 7 metres from the rear boundary. For lofts, the loft conversion guidance allows up to 50 cubic metres of extra roof space on a detached or semi-detached house and 40 cubic metres on a terrace, provided nothing sticks out beyond the front roof slope.

Those rights don’t cover flats or maisonettes, and they are narrower in conservation areas. Even when a project fits within the rules, a Lawful Development Certificate from the council gives a future buyer proof that it was allowed, and the work still needs building regulations approval. Croydon Council’s homeowner planning page explains how to apply when you do need permission.

Croydon’s planning policy right now

Applications are decided against the Croydon Local Plan 2018 and the London Plan. A replacement plan running to 2040 was submitted for examination on 29 November 2024. The council says the planning inspectors have confirmed it can move to the next stage, but it still has to go through a six-week consultation on main modifications, so it hasn’t been adopted yet.

One change matters for anyone who read older advice. Croydon’s Suburban Design Guide (SPD2), adopted in April 2019 and often quoted for extensions and infill homes, was revoked by the council with effect from 26 July 2022. It is no longer used to decide applications, so a designer who still works from it is out of date.

Conservation areas, local heritage areas and Article 4 directions

Croydon Council’s conservation areas page says there are 21 conservation areas in the borough, and its directory lets you check an address and read each area’s appraisal and management plan. The list runs from Addington Village and Bradmore Green to Central Croydon, Church Street, Beulah Hill and Croham Manor Road. The council also has a Conservation Areas General Guidance document for building work in these areas.

The borough has a second, lighter designation too. Local Heritage Areas were identified in a 2016 review. They don’t need any extra consent and don’t remove permitted development rights, but when you do need planning permission the council takes the area’s character into account.

Croydon’s Article 4 directions are fewer than in many boroughs, but they are worth knowing about:

• In the Chatsworth Road Conservation Area, extensions and alterations to a house, all roof alterations, porches, hard surfaces, front walls and fences, painting the outside and installing solar panels all need planning permission.
• In The Waldrons, numbers 5 to 23 need permission for hard surfaces and for front walls, gates and fences, under a direction in force since 21 January 2016.
• Across the whole borough, a direction in force since 28 January 2020 means turning a family house or flat into a small house in multiple occupation needs planning permission.
• Other directions cover green-belt and open land at Kenley Aerodrome, Kenley Lane and Hawkhirst Road, Mitchley Hill and Dunmail Drive, and Dipsley’s Shaw, plus one about a new access off Warminster Road in South Norwood.

Read the council’s page for your own road before you pay for drawings, as the details differ from one direction to the next.

Basements, slopes and flood risk

According to the Planning Portal, a new basement is likely to need planning permission, and digging near a neighbour’s foundations brings in the party wall process. Parts of south Croydon are hilly, and on a sloping plot a lower-ground room or a split-level rear extension can cost more because of the extra digging and retaining walls. Look up your address on the government flood map for planning, and ask your designer about ground conditions and surface water before you commit to anything below ground.

Party walls

About half of Croydon households live in a semi or a terrace, so many projects touch a shared wall. Putting steels into a party wall, building a new wall on the boundary, or digging foundations close to a neighbour’s house can all need notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. The excavation rules can catch detached houses as well. GOV.UK’s guidance explains the notices, including the one for digging near and below a neighbour’s foundations, and has example letters. If a neighbour disagrees, surveyors agree an award setting out how the work will be done. A friendly conversation before the notice lands usually helps.

Checking a builder

Be wary of anyone who knocks on the door uninvited, asks for a large cash deposit, or gives one round number with no breakdown. A good firm will put the job in writing, tie payments to finished stages of work, show you proof of insurance and recent projects, and say who will sign off the building regulations, whether that is the council or a registered building control approver.

You can search for registered tradespeople on TrustMark, go through Citizens Advice’s checklist before building work, and report a rogue trader to your local Trading Standards office.

Figures change: get quotes before you decide

House prices here are UK HPI averages for August 2026. They are provisional and will be revised, and the September 2026 figures are due on 18 November 2026. Building costs are Checkatrade’s national figures, last updated in June 2026, not Croydon quotes, and London work often costs more. Household figures come from Census 2021 (census day was 21 March 2021). Planning details are from Croydon Council’s pages as they stood when we checked them, and the new Local Plan could change some policies once it is adopted. Check the rules for your own address, and get at least three itemised quotes based on proper drawings before you decide whether to build or move.

Sources: UK House Price Index England: August 2026 (GOV.UK); UK HPI data downloads, August 2026 (full file, Croydon E09000008); ONS local house prices: Croydon; Census 2021 TS044 accommodation type (Nomis); Checkatrade: house extension costs; Planning Portal: extensions; Planning Portal: loft conversions; Planning Portal: basements; Croydon Local Plan 2018; Croydon Local Plan review examination; Croydon Council: supplementary planning documents (SPD2 revocation); Croydon Council: conservation areas; Croydon Council: conservation areas directory; Croydon Council: local heritage areas; Croydon Council: Article 4 directions; Croydon Council: planning applications for homeowners; Croydon Council: building control; GOV.UK flood map for planning; GOV.UK: Party Wall etc. Act guidance; TrustMark; Citizens Advice: before building work; GOV.UK: find local Trading Standards. Data checked 22 October 2026.