Posted on 29 October 2025
The £1.7bn regeneration plan for Lewisham town centre is a reason to celebrate. Landsec’s planning green light to redevelop the 1970s-built shopping centre and car park is a big deal for South London. In addition to a new shopping centre, plans include 1,700 homes in tower blocks up to 35 storeys high, student rooms, co-living homes where residents will share facilities like kitchens, plus a new cultural centre and green space.
According to Mike Hood, Landsec’s Chief Operating Officer, ‘it is an exciting moment for the future of Lewisham’s town centre’ and the plans provide ‘much-needed homes, community spaces and facilities that will enhance urban life for generations’.
The new development will start in 2026 and be a decade in the making. It will reimagine the shopping experience with new retail, cafés and bars, and add in a culture and live music venue. More than half the 17-acre site is being dedicated to new green and public space, including a large park and a rooftop wildflower meadow. Lewisham Station, which operates National Rail and Docklands Light Railway services, will get a £500,000 upgrade. The regeneration plan might finally prompt funding for the extension of the Bakerloo underground line from Elephant and Castle.
Building the future
Positive changes will start soon. As contractors and workers are drafted in, they will bring new skills and a need for property in Lewisham and surrounding areas. This will benefit companies like ours, in the property industry, but also retailers, café owners and others whose services will be needed by the new people living and working in the area.
Over time, the halo effect that comes from such a large investment as the one to transform Lewisham, will be more obvious. Lewisham is likely to become a strategic focal point for property investment and development, and this will have a ripple impact on areas such as Blackheath, Brockley and Eltham.
New housing means new people and an increase in the local population which will in turn generate immediate demand for services, office space, and amenities, fuelling mixed-use development potential and the need for local tradespeople and retailers.
Redeveloping the shopping centre will bring a new influx of retailers and with them new shoppers. It also underlines the case for revitalised high streets, where people are increasingly opting to shop local again.
The integration of sustainable features and green spaces will improve the living environment and improve Lewisham’s long-term asset value and appeal.
Enhanced transport links to central London will increase the attractiveness of the area as a commuter hub. This will drive up rental demand and house prices. Residential developers and landlords can expect rising interest from those seeking quality homes with urban amenities and good travel options.
The regeneration of Lewisham is likely to impact future commercial valuations, lease structuring and even the tenant mix. Looking further ahead, commercial landlords and investors will benefit from the ongoing regeneration that fosters placemaking, making Lewisham not only a residential hotspot but a flourishing commercial district.
Urban regeneration
As commercial and residential property agents we at Hindwoods have a particular interest in all urban regeneration in South London. We understand both the need for change, and the desire to maintain the things that make people happy, including the community spirit built by locals who love where they live and work.
There have been claims that the Lewisham redevelopment amounts to a ‘blueprint for gentrification’ and that the character of the area might change. The fear is that gentrification may have an impact on rising costs overall and cause existing residents to be indirectly displaced. Campaigners also wanted more social housing in the area. The approved plan includes 98 homes that will be for social rent and 231 homes at discounted rents for key workers. Most new units will be for private rent or for student / co-living accommodation, which some argue may not serve the existing community’s housing needs.
Any urban redevelopment in London must have transport front and centre. And though there is now the real prospect of an extension to the Bakerloo underground line, groups like Lewisham Cyclists raised concerns that the town centre may remain car-centric or less accessible for sustainable methods of transport.
Keeping the community spirit
There is often a way to ensure that regeneration preserves those things the community values, whilst improving other things. Any development needs to carefully navigate community concerns around heritage, affordable housing, and gentrification. We know from our decades of work in and around South London that each area is unique – London is not known as a series of villages for nothing. Ensuring an identity is kept, whilst keeping up with modern changes is not an easy path to tread.
More information on Landsec’s redevelopment of Lewisham Shopping Centre can be found here
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