Pollards Hill is first and foremost a residential area; situated as one of the outermost neighbourhoods of Mitcham. A diverse range of housing covers different portions of the area – a 50s maisonette estate bounded by Recreation Way; a typical suburban setting of mock-Tudor homes above Mitcham common; and more compact semi-detached housing around Lonesome. Mitcham Eastfields is the main transport link to London and the 60 bus route takes half an hour to get to Croydon town centre. The Harris Academy is the secondary school and sixth-form of preference for locals. Since obtaining academy status, it has been oversubscribed and has also been branded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Both Pollards Hill and Lonesome have won their names simply by virtue of their characteristics. Pollards – trees with shorter branches – line some of the streets around the former, while Lonesome was historically secluded up until the turn of the previous century. For this reason, a chemical factory was installed in this part of south-London during the latter part of the industrial revolution. But the face of these neighbourhoods has also been historically fluid. After housing a dairy pasture, an aromatic herb gardener and two failed golf courses, Pollards became the chosen location for a Homes for Heroes settlement after WWI. Cul-de-sacs sprouted out of Lonesome after the arrival of the railway, making it lonesome no longer. Today the neighbourhoods around Oakley Way and Streatham Vale Parks are inhabited by a ‘culturally vibrant’ community with a peaceful atmosphere.

The demographic of Pollards Hill and Lonesome is incredibly diverse. In fact, it is home to one of the largest Ghanaian communities in the UK with over 600 people having been born in Ghana. Meanwhile at Lonesome, a long-standing travellers camp has been the subject of community tension in the past. However, with efforts by the council to engage with the Roma people came a more harmonious coexistence of the groups living in this area.

Though one can describe the area as one in transition towards a brighter, more secure neighbourhood, it is true that currently some residents express unease about some youth criminal activity. In fact, this is the case for many south London boroughs where it is a matter of streets, rather than whole areas which might be more or less safe to walk through – north-east towards London Road and Norbury can feel less easy, while Pollards Hill is generally quiet. A local residing at Pollards Hill for the last 15 years agrees that for the vast majority, small-scale youth anti-social behaviour is an insignificant aspect of life in this neighbourhood.

With many of the estates in the area having been built in the 60s and 70s, the time for a fresh injection of renovation is approaching. Hadrian Mews are an example of the investment potential around here, with modern 1-bedroom flats going for £270,000. The Pollards Hill estate has received a £35 million regeneration package including the delivery of 90 new housing units , some of which will constitute affordable housing. Other examples of new development in the area include plans for four flats and four houses at 97 Pollards Hill, which were given approval in 2019, plans for a mix of three and four-bedroom detached houses and two semi-detached houses at 82 Pollards Hill North, announced in late 2022, and plans for a site on Pollards Hill South to be redeveloped into a block of six flats along with a pair of detached houses. This last proposal has, however, been objected to by concern locals who believe the loss of sunlight to neighbouring plots and the loss of trees is not justified by the development scheme. Stay tuned for more to come in this little pocket of Mitcham.