South East London People’s Assembly, a grassroots pressure group that brings together trade unions, campaigners, and community activists, is opposed to the redevelopment of Lewisham Shopping Centre. Faris, a supporter of the campaign, says the development will fail to deliver an adequate number of affordable homes and lead to more gentrification.
We oppose the redevelopment of Lewisham Shopping Centre by its owner Landsec, not because we are against change in our borough, but because we are deeply concerned that the current development model is failing to deliver on critical public sector goals.
Only 98 of the 1,744 homes being built in the redevelopment are intended to be social housing, while Lewisham has 11,000 people on its social housing waiting list.
Furthermore, whilst 12 per cent of Lewisham families live in overcrowded conditions, only 8 per cent of the homes in this redevelopment will have more than three bedrooms and be suitable for a family with two children.
City growth is happening around residents and not for residents and this really creates a sense of isolation rather than real progress.
Low income households and one-parent households feel this “regeneration” denies them affordable living conditions. Many must move out of the area as a result.
But in the past many people found stability through social housing. Families put down roots and belonged to an area.Immigrant entrepreneurs who have worked hard to feel at home in an area find these civil bonds are severed as the housing market prices them out of an area.
The council lags in its social housing construction – of the 13,996 homes built since 2011, only 24 per cent of them (3,359) were affordable.
As a borough, we are missing 5,343 affordable homes. Everyone who lives in Lewisham wants to see the number of affordable homes improve for the better.
But we must seriously question whether approving and pursuing the same model of development and hoping that the construction of tens of thousands of market-rate homes is really what is needed to solve our local housing crisis.
Recently, in Elephant and Castle, on the site of its former shopping centre, one bedroom flats were being rented at £3,100 a month. Lewisham Shopping Centre is expected to attract a premium over other local developments.
Is the construction of thousands of luxury flats really what Lewisham needs to solve its housing crisis, with the urgency that it requires? Many of our borough’s young, working-class and ethnic minority residents, particularly Black British people, are disproportionately at risk of being displaced.
As a young person, I and many others repeatedly question whether settling n Lewisham is something that is financially and socially feasible for the long term.
At the Lewisham People’s Assembly, we believe that major development projects need to deliver public sector goals to be considered appropriate.
We do not want to see these current plans go ahead because the affordable housing offer, the most important aspect of this development, is far, far behind what this borough needs.
If you cannot meet the basic need of affordable housing, the other proposed benefits will be largely irrelevant.
Local people will be priced out of the area., and as a result a community that has survived for decades will steadily disappear.
Our rally on the September 23 intends to build public pressure on Lewisham Council and show that this development is not popular among many Lewisham residents.
Lewisham Council will debate the shopping centre redevelopment, including this campaign’s petition which has 4,374 signatures on it.
We want to see a motion which seeks to address the issue of gentrification in the borough and address it via council policies.
If you are tired of seeing new housing construction repeatedly fail to deliver for local Lewisham residents and want to be part of a movement pushing for redevelopment that works for people, join our rally on the September 23 from 6:30pm outside of Lewisham Town Hall. Bring along your flags of any nationality to show our borough’s amazing diversity.
1 comment
It’s a shame to see this usually well balanced site producing such a one-sided view. I hope it will soon provide an alternative voice in this debate.
But just to say that I am sure, in fact I know, that my views are shared across many Ladywell residents and wider Lewisham. I, like them, fed my views into the consultation when the consultation was live. I welcome a development that brings new shopping opportunities to the borough, replacing an old and run down centre. I welcome a new music venue in place of nothing, outdoor public spaces that replace unused fenced off areas, and thousands of new homes standing in the place of zero homes.