The Forestdale Estate is a large private residential estate on the edge of the London Borough of Croydon, 4km. south of Croydon town centre. Forestdale is a great place to live. It has an ideal location, conveniently bordering on one of the greatest cities in the world, London, and also adjacent to some very pleasant Surrey countryside. It has easy transport links to London and the rest of the UK, and an inherent “ greenness “ was retained in its original development.

The main three roads through the estate, Courtwood Lane, Pixton Way and Bardolph Avenue are publicly adopted roads. A number of public footpaths and bridle ways also go through the estate. Branching off these three public roads are a total of 21 distinct areas or smaller estates, almost all of which are on private land. Osward is a large area of the estate that is publicly adopted as are parts of Markfield.

In all the other areas, the smaller estate area is managed by a private management company. These management company areas are funded by all the properties in that area paying a communal maintenance fee that covers the maintenance of the communal areas. Most management companies employ a managing agent to undertake the maintenance work and the company is overseen by an elected board of resident trustee directors which are elected onto the board by the residents in each area. The maintenance charge is in addition to the local council tax.

In the majority of the privately managed areas of the estate covenants and estate rules apply.

The Restrictive Covenant is signed by each owner when they purchase a property in most parts of the estate. This governs the fact that they should not substantially change the nature, use or appearance of their property and obliges them to pay garden / maintenance rates. Each of them is an individual contract and they are hard if not impossible to amend. The management companies can enforce payment of garden rates and allow substantial changes but legal action against unauthorized changes can only be taken by individual owners.

Estate Rules are made by the Management Company for the communal areas, paths and roads of a particular privately managed area and these can vary from area to area and include parking regulations. Trustee Directors have complete freedom on what rules to set though challenges on account of discrimination or unreasonableness may be possible – or residents may vote off the Trustees if a majority don’t like the rules.

In most parts of the estate, rules very similar or the same as the following apply:

- The exterior appearance of buildings, walls and fences shall not be altered,

- No additional buildings, walls, fences and other erections shall be constructed,

- No houses shall be used for any purpose save that of a private residence for a single household and the garage for garaging a private more vehicle,

- Standpipes in garage areas must not be removed or damaged,

- Nothing can be done on a piece of property which will be an alteration to or a departure from the overall landscaping of the estate,

- No plants, shrubs, trees or street furniture on community land can be picked, damaged, or injured,

- No musical instruments, radios or sound reproducing equipment shall be played on community land nor shall any games be played thereon which may prejudicially interfere with or cause damage, nuisance or annoyance to the owners or occupiers of other houses on the estate,

- All buildings walls fences and other erections must be maintained in good repair and be painted and treated regularly to be kept in harmony with neighbouring properties,

- Residents should not allow their dogs to foul the communal and public areas of the estate and should control them at all times,

- No obstructions, rubbish or other material or objects can be left on communal land or property such as pavements, roadways, alleyways, stairs, corridors, etc.

Each area also has parking regulations which commonly include a ban on the parking of commercial vehicles in the private areas of the estate, no vehicle being allowed to park without valid insurance, tax disc, MOT etc, no substantial vehicle servicing on communal property, amongst others.

All residents and prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with the exact covenants and estate rules as they apply to them and their property, in their particular part of the estate.

The whole estate has an active residents’ association, the FRA (Forestdale Residents' Association). At the centre of the estate is an active community centre known as The Forestdale Forum. Within this there is also a private members’ club. The Forestdale Forum Club has a licensed bar, and a program of members’ social and recreational activities. The FRA and Forestdale Forum Club work closely together to ensure that the community centre and grounds are maintained in accordance with the lease.

Adjacent to Forestdale are the residential estates of Selsdon Vale and the smaller Ashen Vale. All three estates are situated close to the beautiful Selsdon Woods – a nature conservation / bird sanctuary area owned by the National Trust and managed by the London Borough of Croydon.

There are shops on the estate at The Forestdale Centre and at the nearby small Crossways Shopping Parade. In nearby Selsdon there is a high street of shops, a supermarket, a library and a community hall.

One of the features of Forestdale is the way in which the developer in many areas built a mixture of different size properties within a particular area thus allowing for the development of a real community without all the flats, medium sized or larger properties all being built or divided into distinct separate areas. Many original trees from the open land were also retained in the building of the estate.