EXCLUSIVE Families living in up-and-coming London suburb where four-bedroom houses cost just £400k warn newcomers flocking to the area hoping for a deal about the MAJOR drawbacks
Locals in London 's most 'up-and-coming' suburb have warned newcomers of its risks, saying they are 'afraid to go out at night' due to high levels of crime and drunks 'lying on the streets'.
Thornton Heath in south London is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after places to live in the capital due to low housing costs compared to the city's average.
You can generally purchase a four bedroom home in the district, which lies in the Borough of Croydon, for anywhere between £400,000 and £500,000 - while being just a 30 minute commute away from the city centre.
In comparison, most similarly sized houses closer to the heart of the capital will see prospective buyers cough up at least £1million in order to entertain discussions with its owners.
But after it became the fastest-growing area for rent increases in London due to its relative affordability, many residents of Thornton Heath say the cheap price of housing comes with its downsides.
Gerry Skinell has lived in Thornton Heath for 40 years and branded it a 's*** h***' - laying the blame at the behaviour of local youngsters.
He told MailOnline: 'The biggest problem is the people themselves. It's a multinational area which is great but the young ones are making an a**e of it.
'They don't respect their elders, they think they're better than them and that's what is wrong. They're out of hand.
You can generally purchase a four bedroom home in the district for anywhere between £400,000 and £500,000
'This used to be a brilliant place. The Jamaica Club used to be around the corner and many times we had a great night there. But they've closed nearly all the pubs down now.'
Of the 13 pubs in Thornton Heath, many are situated around the nearby football stadium of Selhurst Park, home to last week's FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
And while that triumphant victory at Wembley has certainly given the area a lift - as pubs and fences are awash with red and blue bunting - the undercurrent of fear for women in the suburb will remain a problem when the party is over.
NHS worker Teodora Balaban, 29, has lived in Thornton Heath for 10 years and says she is concerned about the lack of policing.
She said: 'I wouldn't go out at night as a small woman after 8pm. The crime rate is high and I think it's because they're not investing in police in the area.
'It's changed a lot since I've been here and there's a lot of diversity which is alright as long as everyone pays their taxes like the rest of us.'
For her elder, Eileen Riley, 75, who has lived in Thornton Heath with her husband since 1987, the same problem plagues the streets.
She said: We don't like to come out at night. There's too many people lying around and drinking in the street.
'But because I've been here for so long, all the drinkers know me now. So in a way that's handy.
'I do believe it is going to get better. A lot of posh people from Brixton and the likes are moving here because the rental prices are cheaper.
'My neighbour's house went for £450,000 which in London is unbelievable.
'Thornton Heath will be good again and it's the same for Croydon. Once they do that up it will be posh again.
'My son lives in Thornton Heath and he'd prefer not to. He doesn't think it's safe for his children but he'll eventually move.
'My husband on the other hand won't budge from here. He tells me they'll have to take him out of here in a coffin.
'There's not a lot going on here, but we've got a Tesco, Poundland, Sainsbury's and the doctors down the road. And the thing is, the houses are cheap.'
Ambassador House in Thornton Heath towers over the centre of the district, with many shops trading underneath
The clocktower in Thornton Heath is another attraction in the district's centre
With Rightmove data revealing Thornton Heath to be he fastest-growing area for rent increases in the city, local businesses say they are feeling the benefits.
Simon Ford, 60, who has owned Kinsgbury Estate Agents for 32 years, believes it is one of the best times to be in the rental business.
He told MailOnline: 'The major thing for us has been the price increases, which have shot up very quickly.
'In the last two years we've seen a huge increase. I think it's mainly because of people coming here to work in Mayday [Hospital].
'The demand is good for us. It's great that prices are so high because we get extra commission as well, but it's tough for people.
'But I think we've got to a stage where rental prices are levelling. They don't seem to be going up anymore.
'We tried to push a couple up by £50 or £100 to see if we can get a bit more, but in truth I think it is levelling again.
Mr Ford also said demographic of those in the area has changed a lot since he took ownership of the business.
'The area used to be predominantly white. It was an area where you had properly 70 or 80 per cent of the houses owner occupied. That's probably changed to 30 or 40 per cent maximum.
'But a lot of newcomers have mainly been Indian and Pakistani. There have been a lot of foreign workers coming with work visas so our clientele has changed over the years.
'Most of them seem to work locally. We do get some commuters to central London or places like Tooting, Streatham and Brixton.'
Despite Thornton Heath having a crime rate of 167 offences per 1000 people, the 60-year-old also fought back against claims of crime being bad in the area, though he admitted he no longer lives in the suburb.
'You get trouble anywhere, it's London. I think it's better than it was around 10 years ago to be honest.
'Back then we had to get panic alarms installed on the doors because we used to get trouble by people who frankly should have been in mental institutions really. But you don't tend to get so much of that now.'
The boom of newcomers in Thornton Heath has also benefitted its vast array of fresh food shops.
Vallin Lloyd, 63, has worked in Cornfield Bakery for 19 years and says the constant influx of people in the area is what 'keeps them going'.
He said: 'There's been a lot of changes since I've been here. Some of the businesses close down, new ones open and it's the same for people.
'We get new customers a lot, so everything keeps spinning and that's what keeps us going.
'I can't complain about living here. It's very nice and the people are friendly. I've never had any trouble personally.'
The area, which ranges in its styles of housing, is notorious for its Victorian buildings such as St Paul's Church and St Alban's Anglican.
Further afield, in the north of Thornton Heath, there is an area which local estate agents dubbed 'Americaland'.
Its streets comprise of Maryland Road, Virginia Road, Florida Road and California Road and their properties fetch for closer to the £1million mark.
Souzana Angelova, 45, who lives the shadows of 'Americaland', says she is in fear at the levels of knife crime in her daughter's school.
She said: 'When I first moved here it was not good. But now I feel the community protects us.
'In England generally knives are a big problem and children always seem to be fighting.
'My daughter is 14 years old, and inside her school there are knives and vapes. I can't protect her when she's inside school.
'She's really smart and I tell her that she needs to avoid fights. But one day my husband was at home and received a call from the police that my daughter had been in a fight with a bigger girl. I had no idea what was happened, I was working.
Mrs Angelova added that she sometimes hears people questioning her choice to live in Thornton Heath.
She added: 'My son works at London Bridge and when he tells people where he lives they say 'wow, really?' but there are good people here. I believe that.'
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Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
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EXCLUSIVE Father of stabbed Nottingham student Barnaby Webber reveals his guilt and anger that he couldn't protect his boy - and the intolerable strain grief has had on his marriage
Tomorrow David Webber will watch his 17-year-old son Charlie play cricket in a match at Nottingham University in memory of his brother Barney who was senselessly killed there two years ago at the age of 19. Charlie will wear his 'brilliant, sporty' older brother's number 53 shirt. Barney's mother Emma, who crusades relentlessly to find justice for him and dulls her pain with medication on particularly 'difficult days', says 'sadly, it's too much for me' to be there, too. By rights, David and Emma should be proudly anticipating their dearly loved eldest son's graduation from this university next month. But, as David says, 'Barney will never take his degree in history, never have his 21st birthday, never grow into the man he was becoming.' Instead, he says, 'Barney is trapped at 19 for ever and left there while everyone else is moving on', following his vicious stabbing in the early hours of the morning on June 13, 2023, as he and close friend Grace O'Malley-Kumar walked back to the halls after a night out. Their monstrous killer Valdo Calocane went on to slaughter 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates and tried to kill three other people. Today, after admitting three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility owing to paranoid schizophrenia, as well as three counts of attempted murder, Calocane is able to watch DVDs, build Lego and play musical instruments in his cell at the 'soft' NHS psychiatric Ashworth Hospital where he is detained. Meanwhile, Barney's ashes remain in an urn at the funeral directors. 'We've not been able to pick him up,' says David. 'Emma and I have talked about it and both of us have said we really can't at the moment. 'I can't explain why. I think a big part of us knows it's just another tick to say, 'He's gone'. Even though you know he has, maybe it puts another layer of confirmation on it.' Similarly, they can't bring themselves to touch Barney's bedroom which is as it was on the day he returned to Nottingham for a cricket match at the end of the summer term two years ago, while his post piles up and remains unopened in the kitchen. 'We're both petrified of seeing something, like a letter to Barney or a bank statement, that will trigger us,' says David. 'There are lots and lots of memories that suddenly come back that you try to push away to hold yourself together. I remember him in this kitchen, there.' He points to the wooden dining table, gesturing to four chairs. 'Barney would sit there, Emma there, Charlie there and I'd sit there. Now I tend to sit there more.' His hand rests on the back of Barney's seat. By rights, David and Emma (pictured) should be proudly anticipating their dearly loved eldest son's graduation from this university next month. But, as David says, 'Barney will never take his degree in history, never have his 21st birthday, never grow into the man he was becoming' David looks at me. 'I feel like I let him down because I'm his father and I didn't protect him,' he says. 'But how could I? What could I have done? 'I know that's the logical response but there's a part of you, especially as a bloke – some primeval part of your brain – that goes, 'I should have been there and stood in front of the saber-toothed tiger and stopped him from attacking Barney.' 'You find yourself fantasising about inventing a time machine, to return to that day and stop him being there. 'The dreams I have are horrible. One quite frequent one is where he's there. I know he's there.' David reaches out his arm in front of him to demonstrate. 'I'm trying to get to him and I can't. I just keep trying to grab him, but I can't.' He clutches at emptiness in front of him as tears roll down his face. 'You know something awful is about to happen, but I can't reach him. You wake up in a cold sweat. It's horrible.' We pause for David to collect himself. It's a miracle he can. For in truth, his family – just like those of Grace and Ian – have been appallingly let down by the police, the NHS, the justice system, the government and just about every public servant whose duty it is to protect us all from monsters like Valdo Calocane. This is the first in-depth interview David has given in the terrible two years since the savage killer shattered so many lives. His pain remains raw. 'We try for Charlie, to have a normal – as much as it will ever be normal – life going forward. Part of that is to have a nice family holiday every year. We have just got back from Morocco. Charlie took a friend with him because it used to be him and Barney – but it's difficult. 'You can see in his eyes he struggles with it. Emma struggles with it. I struggle with it. He wants his brother with him. We all do. 'Charlie's at an age now where Barney would find him interesting instead of thinking he was a pain in the arse. He would be Barney's drinking buddy. They'd be out having a laugh. He always looked up to his brother and that's the bit he wanted' David, 53, has been diagnosed with severe depression, anxiety and complex PTSD. He was unable to even attempt to return to work as a director of an IT company until January this year. He says his co-director has been nothing short of 'a saint' holding the fort, but David continues to find concentrating on anything other than his son's killing 'very difficult'. 'I still have lots of flashbacks of when I saw him in the hospital [in Nottingham] just lying there and his face, the beauty of it – that lovely smile he had still there. 'I held his hand, talked to him, kissed his head and told him I loved him. The hardest part was walking out because you know that's the last time you're physically going to see them. It's unbelievable pain. 'You walk out and that's the last image. It just haunts me because you can't unsee it. It never disappears from my mind.' For the past six weeks David has been undergoing tests for an undiagnosed heart condition. He suffers with a pain on the left side of his chest. The consultant cardiologist has ruled out atrial fibrillation but knows something is 'not right' so David will have an MRI scan in the next few weeks. 'I'd always laughed at the thought of a broken heart before but I don't know any more. The pain is always there. It's there now.' He raises his hand to the left side of his chest. 'I think what happens is you internalise stuff. People ask me how I can look as calm and in control as I do but, God knows, if they knew what was happening up here.' He points to his head. 'And down here.' He holds his stomach. 'It's just churning all the time. I have the ability to mask how I feel but I don't think it's helping because, when you don't let those feelings out, they just tear you about inside.' Barney's shocking death has affected every part of David's life. The many photos from happier times that hang in their home in Taunton, in Somerset, show the sort of loving, stable family many aspire to be. When I first met David and Emma more than a year ago they never imagined they would have to 'dig, push, push and push' for all these months to expose the shocking truth about Barney, Grace and Ian's deaths. This is my third visit to the family's house and each time I see them it's as though a little bit more of the soul of this once happy family has seeped from their home as the fight for justice consumes them. 'It's not easy,' David says of his relationship with Emma. 'You try to stay close but there are times it's very easy to fall out. I suppose we niggle at each other a lot. We're close but we're not close, if that makes sense. 'As a couple, there are times you're sort of paddling your own canoe – going into your own self-protection and your own 'I need to survive' mode. That sort of isolates you in some bizarre way. 'Other times you think, 'Actually, this might have driven us closer.' It changes you as a person. You're not as emotionally attached. It's hard to find the words to explain but your physical relationship is no longer as it was. 'I don't feel particularly handsome and Emma probably doesn't feel particularly sexy or pretty or whatever. You sort of just exist and try to fire yourself up to do what you need to do to find justice for Barney. You feel guilty if you're having a nice time. 'When you find yourself enjoying life you suddenly check yourself and think, 'I shouldn't be doing this.' I suppose, the guilt sits there between you. 'Emma and I are very close. We love each other but there's no sort of spark. 'As for Charlie, he calls me 'creepy dad'. You want to give your children all the freedom in the world but, when you've had this happen to you, you want to know where they are every minute of every day. 'Obviously, you can't live your life that way but if I lost Charlie as well, I think it would just finish me. I can barely function now.' The lives of Barney's and Grace's parents have been consumed with their fight to establish why paranoid schizophrenic Calocane – 'a ticking time bomb' – was free to kill their children, since they learnt he was not to be charged with murder six months after that terrible night. Ian's sons – Darren, James and Lee – are battling with them to seek the truth. Four months ago, an NHS England report was published, finally revealing the catastrophic mistakes that allowed Calocane, who had been sectioned four times, onto the streets of Nottingham. 'He was attacking his flatmates, stalking people. You know he attacked a police officer and had to get tasered? 'They put out a warrant for his arrest but he was never arrested. This report is littered with examples of the number of times he should have been stopped. 'When he assaulted his flatmate, one of the psychiatrists said he believed Calocane could kill. If that's not a red line to lock him up and keep the public safe, what is?' asks David. 'The psychiatrists were just discharging him back onto the streets and he'd stop taking his medication. The fourth time he's sectioned there's talk of 'depot medication' [long-acting, injectable antipsychotics that are slowly released into the body over weeks and months] but he refused because he doesn't like needles. 'He said he'd continue taking his tablets so he's released. Instead of being monitored, he's discharged to his GP when they can't get hold of him. How ludicrous is that? These people weren't doing their jobs properly. They should be held to account.' Indeed, the report also exposes claims made in mitigation of Calocane at his sentencing hearing in January last year to be nothing short of poppycock. 'A mental health nurse assessed him when he was arrested and said he wasn't psychotic. But in court we had an idiot psychiatrist who saw him four or five months afterwards, when he'd been on medication for three months, made an assessment that on that day he was psychotic. How dare he? 'The psychiatrist also said in court that he was treatment resistant. The report shows he was never treatment resistant. The truth is he was sectioned, treated, released, stopped taking his medication, became violent, was sectioned again. This happened four times. Nobody gave a ****.' David's fury is palpable. 'It's impossible to rationalise why nobody is being held accountable for releasing him onto the streets where he's just decided Barney doesn't deserve to live, Grace doesn't deserve to live, Ian doesn't deserve to live. 'I'm not generally an angry person, it's not in my DNA but, when it comes to that monster who killed my son, I have massive anger. What makes my blood boil is that he's got away with murder. If he was in front of me and I had the opportunity to kill him I would, absolutely. 'He made a conscious decision to murder my son. 'Yes, he was ill, but he still made decisions. He was still in control. He could get a train. He could go to a cashpoint and go to buy a sandwich. He could drive a car. Don't tell me you can do all of that but not control yourself. 'Mental health is a reason for someone's behaviour but it's not an excuse.' David remembers every minute of that dreadful day. He was with Emma at the family's holiday lodge in Cornwall when the TV news began to report what was happening in Nottingham. After locating Barney's mobile in Ilkeston Road on his Find My Phone app, he called the police. 'When I said who my son was, I could hear the person on the phone's tone change completely. They said, 'It's really hectic here. We'll get someone to call you back.' Then I saw the phone moving towards the police station. 'Emma was in the middle of a work's team meeting. I said, 'We've got to go now.' 'We chucked the dogs in the car and began driving to Nottingham to my son. 'I didn't know if he was safe or not. Even if I got there and he just fell out of the pub because he's been out all night and had dropped his phone in Ilkeston Road, I'd have been the happiest man alive.' He was haring through Cornwall when his phone rang. It was a policewoman. 'When they won't quite tell you why they are calling, but ask if there's somewhere safe you can pull over, your heart just drops. You know what you are going to hear.' The policewoman could not confirm it was definitely Barney, but they'd found his driving licence in his wallet. Emma got out of the car and fell to her knees. 'I didn't know what to say or do,' says David. 'I couldn't believe it. All I remember is saying, 'I've got to get to my other son.' Charlie was at a school activities week in Torquay. Thankfully, the teacher in charge had separated him from his classmates before he'd seen the news on his phone. David does not know to this day who released his son's name to the media. Charlie was in the minibus when David and Emma arrived. 'Charlie is a very intelligent boy. We thought the best way of dealing with it wasn't to try to sugarcoat it so we told him Barney had been murdered. 'It was awful. He just broke down screaming and ran off.' The family travelled to Nottingham the following day where they met Grace's parents for the first time at a vigil for their children. 'The shock takes over,' says David. 'You can't quite fathom what's happening. There were so many people there crying – bless them.' David stood beside Grace's devastated father, Sanjoy, united in grief as they both addressed the mourning crowd with generous words of love. 'Nothing was rehearsed. I just found myself speaking. Maybe it's the British way.' Today Sanjoy and David speak often. He is, says David, sort of like a brother now. 'We're intrinsically linked for the rest of our lives. Barney and Grace fell together. Bless her, Grace tried to stop him attacking Barney. Emma says it all the time, 'Silly girl, why didn't you run?' But she wasn't that character. She wouldn't let her friend down. 'If it had been the other way round Barney, would never have left her.' Last month, Nottingham announced they would grant posthumous degrees to Barney and Grace, but David says, 'I would struggle to go and collect it as the pain of not seeing him getting it himself would be too much, especially when everyone else is graduating and quite rightly happy to be starting the next chapter of life.' On Friday, Barney and Grace's families will lay a rose where their children fell together on Ilkeston Road. Afterwards, they will walk with Ian's three sons to the place where their father was attacked. All are determined to continue their fight to hold the authorities to account. 'On Monday we see [the Health Secretary] Wes Streeting. 'We've got a statutory public inquiry where all that has happened will come out but that won't be until next year. 'We need change now. The people who allowed this to happen need to be held accountable for their mistakes now. How many more people need to be murdered by those with mental health issues for this to stop? 'We need to make the streets safer and protect all our sons and daughters. If we can do that, in the name of Barney, Grace and Ian, then that, I suppose, is success. But the main problem – the bit that really tears you apart – is that they are not here and we can't bring them back.'
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Arrests of illegal migrant workers increase by 51% in year since Labour elected
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