Croydon Council has extended the lease for Davidson Pre-School until July 2026, ensuring continued access to vital, government-funded spaces for disadvantaged families. The council's decision provides the pre-school with additional time to secure a new location.
The decision, made during a Council meeting on 16 July 2025, comes in response to concerns raised about the sale of community assets, including pre-schools and mental health charities. The council acknowledged that Davidson Pre-School is located in a property identified for disposal as part of the council's asset disposal programme. This programme, encouraged by central government and the Improvement and Assurance Panel, aims to reduce the council's £1.4 billion debt by disposing of non-operational, non-essential assets
as stated in the Public Question Responses - 16 July 2025.
However, recognising the crucial role of early years providers, the council has offered an extended lease to allow the pre-school time to find a suitable premises for relocation. This ensures that parents in the community can continue to rely on the setting's free government-funded spaces. The council has not announced any further support for Davidson Pre-School beyond the extended lease.
During the meeting, a resident asked, "Why are vital assets to the community being sold? Why are local pre-schools, mental health charities, early help hubs, tennis courts and so on being targeted and sold all because we don't make the council money but pubs that aren't vital to the community are being kept as they make them money.
I am the owner of Davidson Preschool and we are one of the only settings in the borough offering free government funded spaces that parents of my community rely on as they are from disadvantaged families. Where will all these children now go?"
The council responded that it does not own any pubs, and that it has offered Davidson Pre-School an extended lease to July 2026 to give time to find a suitable premises for relocation.