- A scheme on the Purley Baptist Church site in Croydon was approved by the government in July 2020
- Plans by the Thornsett Group included 220 homes, 39 of them affordable, and a replacement church
- A 2018 refusal by the Secretary of State was quashed after he accepted his reasoning was inadequate
- The tower was capped at 16 storeys in the final approval
A long fight over a church-backed housing scheme in Purley, south London, ended in July 2020 when Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick approved plans for a tower of homes on the site of Purley Baptist Church. Inside Croydon described it as the end of “a six-year planning saga that has involved two public inquiries and a High Court challenge.”
The development was proposed on behalf of the church on a town-centre site that the paper said had been left derelict for decades. According to Croydon Council, the Thornsett Group scheme would provide 220 homes, 39 of them affordable, together with a replacement church and community facilities including a sports hall. Croydon Council first approved the application in December 2016.
The government then stepped in. James Brokenshire, as Secretary of State, refused permission, overruling his own planning inspector, who had backed the scheme. The council supported a legal challenge, and Brokenshire later accepted that his decision letter lacked adequate justification and agreed it should be quashed. Councillor Paul Scott said the development “would provide much-needed homes in the borough, with a replacement church and community facilities.”
The application went back for a fresh decision, and in 2020 Jenrick’s office granted approval, limiting the tower element to 16 storeys. The inspector concluded the tower would change the character of the town but “would not unacceptably dominate it or the surrounding residential area to the extent that any material harm is caused.”
The scheme is a clear example of a congregation using the value of its land to pay for a new church while adding homes, and of how long and costly that route can be. Height, local opposition and politics can hold a project up for years, even with council support.
For churches in Jamaica weighing up joint ventures on valuable town lots, and for diaspora members asked to back such plans, Purley shows both the opportunity and the patience it demands. A church site can carry housing and a new sanctuary at the same time, but the congregation needs sound professional advice, a developer partner it trusts, and the stamina to see the approvals through.
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