Lewisham House takes centre stage in the struggle for Lewisham Shopping Centre

A spokesperson for Lewisham House No. 1 (LHN1) said its rival plans deliver homes, sustainable retrofit and a £6.2m contribution to social homes, 'everything that the Green Party campaigned for at this year's elections'.

The Landsec masterplan for Lewisham Shopping Centre covers redevelopment of the wider central Lewisham area, including the land at Lewisham House - previously the Citibank Tower.

At a heated planning meeting in October 2025, Lewisham council approved Lendsec's plans, overruling objections from both Lewisham House No. 1 (LHN1) and from housing campaigners.

LHN1, which holds a 900 year lease for Lewisham House, put forward its own development plans which it said would deliver housing more quickly than Landsec's masterplan.

Housing campaigners Save Lewisham Shopping Centre objected to the Landsec plan due to the very low level of affordable housing in the development, and have continued their high profile campaign.

Under the Landsec masterplan, 329 homes or 18.8% of the total (C3) homes to be built will be affordable, the majority of these allocated as key worker housing.

Campaigners recently told Salamander they are calling for a stop to the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for Lewisham House, as a way to pause the development and reopen negotiations.

Many of the Green councillor candidates, who have become Green councillors, including Liam Shrivastava who became Lewisham mayor, pledged their support for the Save Lewisham Shopping Centre campaign before the local elections.

Now campaigners are asking if they will keep their word.

Lewisham mayor Liam Shrivastava told the Local Democracy Reporter he would use his influence “to make the most of every opportunity to increase the amount of social housing provided” and ensure community benefits are delivered.

He said: “I have consistently said that I don’t think the level of family homes and homes for social rent is adequate to meet the needs of our residents.

“This administration is taking an ambitious approach, exploring innovative strategies to ensure that development opportunities contribute more broadly to increasing housing delivery across the borough.”

In January 2026, the previous Labour administration approved the use of its Compulsory Purchase powers for Lewisham House in principle, which would allow the council to take the site from LHN1.

The council said using its powers would be a “last resort”, but that delaying the start of the Compulsory Purchase process could lead to valuable time being lost in progressing the project.

Shrivastava said: “The previous administration approved a CPO in principle, however there is no CPO on my desk at the moment. "Any use of CPO powers must be justified by a clear and compelling public benefit.”

Shrivastava called it “a scandal” that a building the size of Lewisham House has sat empty.

“Lewisham House is owned by an offshore company [LHN1], who have had numerous applications approved but have never followed through with them," he said.

"Their current planning application proposes no affordable housing whatsoever.”

A spokesperson for Lewisham House responded:

“Our plans for Lewisham House represent everything that the Green Party campaigned for at this year’s elections. We will deliver 319 homes through a best-practice sustainable retrofit of Lewisham House whilst retaining the civic heart of Lewisham, the shopping centre.

"Recognising the need to deliver sustainable regeneration that works for everyone, we will also deliver a £6.2 million contribution to go directly toward the Green Party’s 1,000 social home target, an ongoing donation of ground-floor workspace for local organisations, a jobs and skills programme and free access to the building’s communal spaces for local groups.

"Instead, the Green Party are enabling Labour’s masterplan, which is not deliverable, not viable, not sustainable, provides no guarantee of affordable housing delivery and relies on a long, expensive and uncertain Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) process.

"It is everything that the Green Party campaigned against when they sought a better deal for the community at the elections – but clearly, they have not considered the alternatives to the shopping centre masterplan."

A spokesperson for Landsec said: “The approved masterplan would deliver 1,700 new homes, 20% of which will be affordable, along with a number of public benefits which the redevelopment of Lewisham House alone could not deliver.

“Our proposals for Lewisham House sit within phase 1b of our scheme which would create 1, 2 and 3 bed homes including 90 homes ring-fenced for key workers.”

The spokesperson for LHN1 said: "Whilst Landsec have publicly stated they are delaying delivery of housing projects including the masterplan, we are fully committed to delivering our plans and are seeking a positive decision on our planning application as quickly as possible.

"Our desire remains to engage with the Green Party on our proposals, and we hope that they come to the table to discuss in good faith.”

Includes reporting from Local Democracy Reporter Ruby Gregory, with additional reporting and editing from Dorothy Stein.

Support local independent media from just £2 per month.