Lewisham shopping centre redevelopment halted
Plans to rebuild Lewisham shopping centre have been put on hold today by Landowner Landsec.
It’s now eight years since plans emerged – as covered on this site back in 2018 – and over that time plans evolved with outline permission granted for 1,700 build-to-rent homes as well as 660 student beds and 445 co-living units.
Detailed plans were only agreed for one plot to the north including the Boots and Nat West units. Boots have already moved to another site in the centre.
Landsec blamed wider economic conditions as well as opposition from the ruling Green Party, with “affordable housing” including 98 social units and 231 at discount rent.
One key element was the former Citibank tower. Landsec included it in their plans though ownership requires a Compulsory Purchase Order from Lewisham Council.
Lewisham Council said no without more social homes. Landsec stated that wasn’t viable, and have now scrapped the plan.
That could mean the alternative Citibank tower plan goes ahead, though the leaseholder has submitted various plans for a decade and never proceeded with a single one it’s perhaps not likely. It also includes zero social homes and a small payment in lieu which will provide barely enough social homes to make double digits.
High costs
In a statement today Landsec said:
“The costs of building in London have risen sharply in recent years. Higher interest rates, construction cost inflation, and new building regulations mean that bringing forward new developments in the city has never been more challenging.
“Recent statements from Lewisham Council also make clear that the administration is not able to support the next phase of land assembly needed to unlock the redevelopment of the shopping centre without a significant increase in affordable housing.
“This would require a material change to the proposals we originally put forward.”
Council statement
Mayor of Lewisham, Liam Shrivastava, said:
“This administration is laser focused on delivering genuinely affordable housing and I’ve consistently said the level of social rent homes in this scheme needed to increase. I recognise the strength of feeling of those concerned about the development. I also know there were many other residents and businesses who wanted to see it come forward. The fact is the conditions for such projects are simply not favourable right now.”
“The development environment is as tough as it has ever been, and what we have seen recently is that developers of all shapes and sizes have struggled to get development going in London. Recently, one of the country’s biggest developers announced it would no longer be building homes in London.
“This should serve as a stark reminder to the Government that the current approach to housing delivery is not working and that urgent reform is needed to unlock development and deliver the homes communities need.”
“The reality of the housing crisis we face in Lewisham, where so many households are in temporary accommodation or struggling to find a home they can afford, is that we are going to need genuinely affordable housing to come forward from across the board.
“The way out of this crisis is through delivering social housing. Our administration remains committed to working with private sector, public sector and community partners who share our ambition to deliver affordable homes and the infrastructure that supports them.”
“I would like to acknowledge the hard work undertaken by many, in good faith, to get the plans to where they are now.”
“Landsec remains a valued local partner, and we will continue to work closely together to invest in and improve our town centre, including lobbying for the Bakerloo Line extension to Lewisham and beyond, reopening the Model Market, and ensuring the shopping centre receives ongoing investment and improvements to make sure it remains attractive to retailers and serves our residents. “
Social housing
The line about social housing is interesting as while Lewisham Council are calling for more on private land, they plan none at all on a large development on their own land at Besson Street in New Cross.
While that project has been around for 20 years without any building ever commencing – and inherited from the prior Labour administration – it’s notable they seem less keen to blame the prior administration and skirted a question on social housing levels.
For example in a council meeting last month regarding council homes on the proposed development versus what once existed on site, the answer ignored it.
They could have blamed the prior administration but were far less keen to do compared to the privately-owned Lewisham shopping centre site. They notable didn’t say they were looking to rework an agreement with Grainer to add more social homes on their own land.
The response mentions 35 per cent “affordable” but not that they are the highest legal level (80 per cent market rate) and zero are at the cheaper social housing level.
And that’s on a substantial plot of land with the council having more than 2,000 households in temporary accommodation.
Opposition
One of the paradoxes with Lewisham Council’s new leadership has been to vocally criticise the Lewisham shopping centre plan but offer few solutions, and so now nothing looks likely for some years to come.
They could have pushed for funding via the new Social and Affordable Housing Programme to increase social homes, but they’ve made no mention of doing so.
Refusing the former Citibank tower CPO could also lead to zero social homes on that site and a token payment instead.
They’ve also persisted with an agreement on their own land in New Cross that includes zero social or council homes. Again, there seems no push to change that.
That seems to contradict the Mayor’s statement today when he said:
“The reality of the housing crisis we face in Lewisham, where so many households are in temporary accommodation or struggling to find a home they can afford, is that we are going to need genuinely affordable housing to come forward from across the board.
“The way out of this crisis is through delivering social housing. Our administration remains committed to working with private sector, public sector and community partners who share our ambition to deliver affordable homes and the infrastructure that supports them.”
So all told it now looks like the shopping centre site is getting no private homes but crucially also next to no social or council homes in Lewisham or sites like New Cross.
If the plan is for more much needed homes – including far more at lower cost – what’s happening at various sites recently isn’t achieving it.
