From Wednesday 21 October, Croydon's housing and homelessness appointments move to Cavendish House, South Croydon. Check your appointment before you travel.

Anyone in Croydon who needs help with housing or homelessness will be seen at a new address from Wednesday 21 October. The council’s housing needs service is moving into Cavendish House, South Croydon, and appointments from that day are held there.

The service is still by appointment. The council asks residents to “check their appointment details and plan their journey before travelling” (Croydon Council, 20 October).

What changes, and what does not

The housing needs and homelessness team is moving out of Bernard Weatherill House. When the Cabinet approved the move in July, the council said Cavendish House is about a 10-minute walk from there, and that the move “changes where services are delivered, not the services people receive.” It said opening hours would not change, and that telephone, online and same-day appointments would remain for people who need urgent help (Croydon Council, 31 July).

At that point the first phase was due “from the end of September 2026”. The move is now happening three weeks later.

According to the council, the new building has:

  • a dedicated reception and larger waiting area
  • more interview and assessment rooms, for private conversations
  • family-friendly facilities
  • stronger safeguarding and security, and a new visitor management system
  • better accessibility
  • better internet connections and public Wi-Fi

In his weekly column on 16 October, the Mayor said the facilities include “a small children’s play area, accessible toilets and baby changing facilities” (Mayor Perry, listening to Croydon).

The opening

Executive Mayor Jason Perry cut the ribbon on Friday 16 October and toured the building.

“Getting help with housing can be stressful,” he said. “Residents deserve somewhere welcoming, with proper privacy to discuss their circumstances and suitable facilities for their families. That is what we are delivering at Cavendish House.

“Bringing services together under one roof is common sense. We are making better use of Council buildings, improving facilities for residents and giving staff more space to carry out assessments.

“Housing needs is the first service moving in, with more to follow. My priority is simple: making it easier for residents to get the help they need.”

More services to follow

The council calls the building its new “front door”. Before choosing it, the council looked at nine locations and picked Cavendish House for “the best mix of accessibility, safety, privacy and value for money”.

The July plan named the services due to follow housing:

  • parking services
  • youth justice
  • Young Croydon
  • children’s services
  • adult social care triage

No dates have been given for these later phases.

Cavendish House was on the council’s list of buildings it could sell. It came off that list when the council decided to use it for this service instead, as we reported when 31 more sites were added to the disposals list.

The council’s own figures put 3,283 Croydon households in temporary accommodation last month. Separately, a new homeless day centre on London Road, run by charities, opens this month.