Trade work in Croydon: the homes, the businesses and the jobs
This guide is for every trade working in Croydon, or thinking about it: plumbers, electricians, roofers, builders, landscapers, decorators and everyone else. We did the research so you know the ground before you get there.
Croydon at a glance
Croydon has run its own services since 1889 and became a London borough in 1965. It is one of London's most populated boroughs, home to around 153,000 households.
Where the work is heading
- New homes: the London Plan sets Croydon a target of 20,790 new homes over the ten years to 2028/29, nearly three times Bromley's target. 6,410 of those are on small sites, meaning infill plots, conversions and small builds. That's work for builders and every trade that finishes a new home.
- Town centre: Croydon town centre is a Metropolitan Centre and an Opportunity Area, marked for major growth. In March 2026 the council launched Croydon Means Business, a £500,000 programme to fill empty town-centre units, with business rates relief for new occupiers of long-vacant premises. New tenants mean fit-outs, electrics, plumbing and signage.
The work: homes
Of Croydon's 152,945 households (Census 2021), 54.7% are owner occupied, 25.8% are privately rented (about 39,400 homes) and 17.9% are socially rented.
- Landlord work is big here: more than one in four homes are privately rented, a much higher share than Bromley. Landlords need a Gas Safe check every 12 months and an electrical inspection at least every five years. Since December 2025 the five-yearly electrical checks apply to social housing too, which covers another 17.9% of Croydon's homes.
- Plumbers and heating engineers: 74.7% of homes heat with mains gas only, so boilers are the core work.
- Electricians: 10.4% of homes heat with electricity only, more electric heating than you'd see in many boroughs. Add EICRs, remedial work, and Part P notifiable jobs like consumer units, new circuits and bathroom work.
- Builders and conversion specialists: since January 2020, a borough-wide Article 4 direction means converting a house into a small HMO anywhere in Croydon needs planning permission. Check before you take on a conversion job.
- Every other trade: with 39,000+ rented homes and 83,000+ owner-occupied ones, there's work from both landlords and homeowners.
The work: shops, offices and businesses
Croydon has more than 16,000 businesses, the largest number of SMEs of any London borough, according to Croydon Council's 2026 investment prospectus. Small firms need trades they can rely on for fit-outs, maintenance, electrical testing, commercial gas and repairs. Add the push to fill empty town-centre units, and there's commercial work alongside the homes. If you do commercial work, say so plainly on your website and Google profile, because a business owner searches differently from a homeowner.
How Croydon customers search for trades
Our Google Keyword Planner research covering August 2025 to July 2026 shows:
- Purley: around 500 plumber searches a month on its own, separate from Croydon-wide searches.
- Electricians, roofers, builders, loft conversions and kitchen fitters: around 500 searches a month each across Croydon. That's around 500 times every month someone types your trade and Croydon into Google, ready to hire. For most trades, winning even a small share of that is a full diary.
- Plumbing: around 5,000 searches a month, the most searched trade in the borough.
Plumbing is also the most competitive trade for ads in Croydon. That's why a strong Google profile, real reviews and a proper local page matter as much as advertising. Whatever your trade, Croydon customers are searching for it every month.
Want the full picture? We've mapped the click costs and competition for every major trade in Croydon. Book a free audit and we'll show you the numbers for yours.
Planning rules that affect the job
- Croydon has 21 conservation areas, where visible changes face extra controls.
- Article 4 directions in the Chatsworth Road, The Waldrons and Kenley Aerodrome conservation areas remove some permitted development rights, so roof, window and frontage work there may need permission.
- Borough-wide, converting a house to a small HMO needs planning permission.
- In practice: check the address with the council before you price a loft, extension or conversion.
Where the work is
- CR0: Croydon, Addiscombe, Shirley, Addington, New Addington, Selhurst, Waddon
- CR2: South Croydon, Sanderstead, Selsdon
- CR5: Coulsdon, Old Coulsdon
- CR7: Thornton Heath
- CR8: Purley, Kenley
- SE postcodes: parts of the borough such as South Norwood and Upper Norwood
How we help trades get found in Croydon
- Google Business Profile: service areas that match the parts of Croydon you actually cover.
- Your website: a Croydon page naming your areas and the jobs you do there, for homes, landlords, businesses or all three.
- Reviews and photos: from real local jobs.
- Google Ads: targeted to the postcodes you want, with call tracking so you know what each job cost to win.
We know the ground you work on, so your marketing speaks your customers' language.
Working in Croydon, or want to be?
Get a free audit and we'll show you how you're showing up there.
