Overview
- Landsec announced on Wednesday that it is deprioritising the £1.5 billion plan for Lewisham Shopping Centre and will pause the phased build programme that had planning approval.
- The approved masterplan covered 17 acres with 1,744 homes, student rooms and retail space but proposed only 98 social-rent units and 231 discounted or key-worker homes, which fuelled local opposition.
- The company cited ‘exceptionally challenging economic conditions’ — higher interest rates, rising construction costs and tougher rules — as undermining a clear route to delivery.
- Land assembly was a legal and practical barrier because Landsec holds the freehold while a long lease for Lewisham House is held by Guernsey-based LHN1, and the council has said it will not support compulsory purchase without a bigger affordable-housing offer.
- Mayor Liam Shrivastava and community campaigners who opposed the low social-rent provision welcomed the pause while Landsec says it will invest in the existing centre and focus on other projects, a move that highlights wider strains on large London regeneration schemes.