LONGLEY
HOUSE.

The railway changes the town

Crawley railway station opened in 1848 on the line connecting Three Bridges with Horsham. The railway helped make the southern edge of the old town more attractive for business and residential development, establishing the conditions in which streets such as East Park would evolve. By the late Victorian period, workshops and building firms had become an important part of the local economy. [1] [6]

The Longley connection

Research published through Crawley Museum tells us that the Longley building company moved to a site next to Crawley station, on East Park, in 1881. It grew into one of the leading building concerns in the South East. In 1898, the company was recorded as employing more than 700 people at its site. This was a substantial operation in a town much smaller than the Crawley we know today. [1]

The name Longley House invites a link to that industrial history. The company's presence on East Park is documented, but an exact documentary connection between its Victorian premises and the footprint or naming of the later office building has not yet been independently verified. It is an important lead for future archive research, not a confirmed claim.

A working town reinvents itself

Crawley was designated a New Town in 1947, setting in motion decades of investment in housing, services, industry and commercial premises. The streets around the station developed as a mixture of older homes, transport infrastructure, hotels and modern office buildings. Longley House belonged to this later commercial phase, rather than to the Victorian building stock of East Park. [6]

A Crawley Borough Council planning report describes the existing Longley House as a late-20th-century, purpose-built, four-storey office block, with parking around the building. It places the site to the north-east of the junction of East Park and Clitherow Gardens. [2]

The end of an office era

By 2020, plans were being considered to replace Longley House with housing. At its meeting on 3 November 2020, Crawley Borough Council's Planning Committee resolved to support a scheme for 121 apartments, subject to conditions and a legal agreement. It was an early, significant step in the building's proposed transition from offices to homes. [3]

In January 2024 the council announced that it had completed its purchase of the site for £1.5 million, with an intention to provide affordable rental homes. Its public records show further planning consideration in December 2024. Detailed planning permission for the 121-home proposal is recorded by the council as dated 22 September 2025. [5] [4]

What comes after Longley House?

The approved proposal provides for a building ranging from four to nine storeys, comprising 121 residential units, together with cycle and car parking, landscaping and other site works. The council's brownfield register identifies the land as a key housing site and noted that demolition had been expected to begin in early 2026. That expectation is a planning forecast, not evidence that demolition has taken place. [4]

In its April 2026 information bulletin, the council reported that a Section 106 agreement had been signed in September 2025 and that conditional brownfield funding had been secured to support demolition. The final physical state of the building should be confirmed from a recent site inspection or an updated council announcement before publication of any demolition claim. [7]