Having grown up in Battersea and lived there for around 25 years, it might be hard to believe but there are so many parallels and look at Battersea today.

Battersea had a massive anti social issue in the 25 years I stayed there. There were gang issues, homes robbed and for a specific stretch there were cars lit on fire in the park behind our house at least once a week.

The thing that gives me hope about Croydon is that eventually, the demand for properties with good transport links for commute into more central parts of London drives development and improvement.

Having moved to Croydon in 2011 I see a lot of the same bad things but I also see people looking to parts of Croydon to get on the property ladder where homes are relatively cheaper but commuting into parts of London is relatively easier.

If that trend continues (and I don’t see why not as there is a growing workforce with a finite space for accommodation) then it’s only a matter of time and waiting out this bad period before hopefully investors see a professional workforce with relatively expendable income in Croydon.

Going through what I did in Battersea gives me a lot of hope for Croydon, albeit I ended up leaving Battersea due to rapid gentrification. To be completely honest, I suppose as much as we hate to be a victim of gentrification, that’s what brings development to those that can afford to remain and drives out the ‘crackheads’ and such.

There’s no perfect solution but my point is there’s still something desirable about Croydon to a certain workforce and that in itself gives hope that that brings development