Landsec has shelved its £1.5 billion redevelopment of Lewisham Shopping Centre, just one year after councillors approved the plans. The company says it is “deprioritising” the scheme after encountering “exceptionally challenging economic conditions” and will focus on other projects.
Landsec remains committed to Lewisham
A spokesperson for Landsec said: “Today’s news does not mean that we’re leaving Lewisham. We have owned and operated the shopping centre for more than 20 years and remain committed to the borough.”
“Our focus will now be on operating and investing in the existing centre, supporting our retailers, customers and community partners, and continuing to play an active role in the borough’s future.”
The plans, approved by Lewisham Council’s Strategic Development Committee in October 2025, included 1,744 flats, student accommodation and a new shopping mall across 17 acres. The permission allowed Landsec to demolish the existing 1970s mall and a multi-storey car park to make way for tower blocks up to 35 storeys high.
Affordable housing concerns
Of the 1,744 homes, just 98 would be social rent homes, while 231 were set to be rented out at discounted market rates or for key workers. The scheme also included 661 student rooms and a 23-storey co-living block with 445 homes. The project was split into six phases, with a timeline spanning 10 years and work due to start next year. Landsec’s masterplan had a reported cost of between £1.3bn and £1.7bn.
The Landsec spokesperson said it was “no secret” that higher interest rates, increased construction costs and more complex regulations have made development in London “increasingly challenging”. They added: “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 delivery without a significant increase in affordable housing. This would require material changes to the masterplan resulting in substantial delays to the programme.”
Council and campaigner reactions
In January 2026, the previous Labour administration approved in principle the use of compulsory purchase powers for Lewisham House, the former Citibank tower. The council said at the time that using its powers would be a “last resort”, but delaying the process could lead to valuable time being lost. However, since the new Green Party administration came into power in May, Mayor of Lewisham Liam Shrivastava said any use of compulsory purchase powers “must be justified by a clear and compelling public benefit”.
Mayor 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.” He added that the council will continue to work with Landsec to improve Lewisham town centre, including lobbying for the Bakerloo Line extension and reopening Model Market. The council’s £24million programme of town centre improvements is already underway.
A spokesperson for the Lewisham People’s Assembly, a community-led group that campaigned against the plans, said: “We are very pleased with Landsec’s most recent announcements.” They said the drafted plans were “financially reckless”, with the council projecting Landsec would lose half a billion pounds if construction started today. The group plans to look at different avenues “to realise and advocate for this vision” in the coming days, favouring refurbishment of underused spaces and “slow and responsible solutions” over “rushed and risky ones”.
