Croydon Kwik Fit Economic and Employment Assessment

Hardisty Jones Associates delivered an Economic and Employment Assessment in support of a planning application for a mixed-use development at 173-181 St James Road within the London Borough of Croydon.

The planning application proposed for the “Redevelopment of site to provide a five-storey residential building (Class C3) with a commercial unit (Class E) at ground floor, landscape, cycle parking and other associated development”. The proposed development comprises of 28 residential units and circa 100 sq m commercial floorspace on the ground floor in place of the existing motor vehicle servicing garage currently on site.

The report was delivered in response to pre-application advice which requested, for evidence demonstrating that the proposed development would not lead to a net loss in employment.

Our work assessed the gross direct and net local impacts of the sites current existing use which is a motor vehicle servicing garage (namely Kwik-Fit), which is currently Sui Generis use and has ancillary retail and office floorspace.

We assessed the economic impacts of the construction and operational phase of the proposed development using a bespoke model measuring the direct economic impacts. The proposed development would involve the demolition of the existing buildings across the site. We assessed a range of uses that the commercial floorspace could be occupied by. This included:

• Use Class E(a) includes the display or retail sale of goods, other than hot food, principally to visiting members of the public
• Use Class E(b) includes the sale of food and drink principally to visiting members of the public where consumption of food and drink is (mostly) on the premises
• Use Class E(c) includes the provision of the following kinds of services principally to visiting members of the public:
• E(c)(i) Financial services,
• E(c)(ii) Professional services (other than health or medical services), or
• E(c)(iii) Other appropriate services in a commercial, business or service locality

We assessed wider economic and employment effects which included: residential development and resident population. Business rates and Council Tax contributions were also assessed based on comparator values in the area from our own desk-based analysis.

Our work demonstrated the positive economic impacts the proposed development would have for Croydon residents and that there would be no net loss of employment.

If you would like to talk to us about how we can support your efforts to make the case for and assess the economic impacts for a development, please get in touch using the project lead contact details provided below.