14/08/2026
You’ve probably heard the campaign’s issues with the unaffordability of housing in the Shopping Centre redevelopment plans. But besides the price, it’s important to look at what type of homes they are and who could live there.
The 2011 census found that over 12% of Lewisham families were overcrowded, and a 2021 housing allocations review reported over 5,000 families on the housing register lived in overcrowded conditions. This disproportionately impacts racialised people and single parents with children. Overcrowding can impact children’s school attendance and performance, strain family relationships, and cause anxiety, stress, and
So it’s not just the cost of housing - it’s how many bedrooms are in each home, and whether or not Lewisham can be a place where families can thrive.
But for the past 20 years, Lewisham Council has consistently approved planning permissions for studios, 1- and 2-bedrooms homes. Now, over 60% of homes in Lewisham have two bedrooms or less.
Only 9% of Landsec’s 1700 new homes at the Lewisham Shopping Centre will have 3 or 4 bedrooms; everything else, including the student and co-living, has 2 bedrooms or less. So Landsec’s plans are even worse than Lewisham’s already-poor record for families.
Building housing for childless, middle-class young professionals risks furthering the churn of families out of Lewisham and worsening
