Planning permission has today been granted for work to begin on the latest government hub in Croydon, with civil servants from the Home Office expected to move in by late 2024.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) has secured a 25 year lease for the site at Two Ruskin Square - a move which will save the taxpayer more than £8m a year.
The new hub will provide flexible workspace, allowing the lessons from working from home over the recent months to be incorporated.
About the hub
The new hub in Croydon will be the area's second, creating a government campus with excellent transportation links.
It will form part of the nine-acre Ruskin Square scheme and is located adjacent to East Croydon station. It sits alongside One Ruskin Square, the HMRC regional centre which opened in 2017, and currently houses around 2,000 HMRC staff, with more expected to move in by 2021.
The development of 329,500 sqft will be arranged over 10 floors and include ground level retail units. The ground works are anticipated to start on site before the end of this year, with the build of the main superstructure beginning in April 2021.
The Government Hubs Programme has so far seen the development of 16 office hubs announced in areas including Glasgow, Belfast, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff, Birmingham, Peterborough and Bristol to support around 60,000 civil servants.
Welcoming news of the planning permission, Steven Boyd, Chief Executive of Government Property Agency, said:
"The Government Property Agency is at the heart of creating great places to work for civil servants and the news today reflects the great progress we are making.
"The Government Hubs Programme is creating strong regional centres where civil servants can build their careers in modern state-of-the-art shared workspaces, enabling efficient, collaborative and flexible working, driving engagement and improving staff productivity and wellbeing. This will also reduce government operating costs as we dispose of unnecessary office space and streamline our estate.
"We will continue to work with government departments, local authorities, investors and developers across the UK to take forward this ambitious programme."
