Lewisham Council has agreed to make some of its vacant land, which has been the subject of regeneration plans for over a decade, available for sale to a major insurance firm to build new social homes.
Last week (January 21) Cabinet members discussed a report outlining fresh proposals to sell a portion of its land, located at the south of Copperas Street which backs onto Deptford Creek, to Legal & General (L&G).
The plans form part of a wider regeneration scheme between L&G and developer Galliard, which owns the land directly next door. If the sale eventually goes through, L&G and Galliard can move forward with a scheme to deliver around 550 Build to Rent (BTR) homes across the combined sites.
Around 30 per cent of the homes, by habitable room, could be designated as affordable according to the latest estimates, and all of these would be built on the council-owned land within the wider site. All the affordable homes would be for social rent.
Cllr James-J Walsh, Lewisham Council’s Cabinet Member for Inclusive Regeneration and Planning, said: “The land at south of Copperas Street has been identified for regeneration for over a decade.
“Previous delivery routes fell away, planning permissions were never used and the site has remained empty, delivering no homes and no value to the community.
“Doing nothing simply extends that failure. The proposal before full Cabinet allows a single comprehensive scheme to come forward across the wider site, delivering 550 new homes in a highly accessible location.”
Cllr Walsh explained that the land would only be sold once planning permission is granted, and as part of the agreement the council would take back a 250-year lease of a new ground-floor commercial unit. The council would also receive £250,000 in construction-period income and could potentially benefit from more money if the final planning permission is more valuable than currently assumed.
Cllr Walsh added: “This is a pragmatic, Labour approach to regeneration [which] unlocks stalled land, secures social rent homes, retains long-term public assets and ensures that the public shares future value.”
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Cabinet members went on to agree the report and approve of the disposal “in principle”, which is a provisional agreement before becoming legally binding and is subject to contract.
Cllr Amanda De Ryk said: “I just want to say well done, that’s really exciting news and to be able to deliver that many homes at social rent on our land is really, really exceptional work.”
Site history: Plans to sell off the council-owned land have being going on for a decade
The council-owned land was once home to a mix of office and industrial buildings which have now been demolished, with the council describing the site as being “cleared and ready for redevelopment”.
Plans to sell off the council-owned land first emerged in July 2015, when the then-Mayor and Cabinet agreed to sell it to developer Kitewood, subject to Kitewood later obtaining planning permission.
In November 2020, Lewisham Council chose to grant planning permission for developer Kitewood and Galliard to build 393 homes in towers that would be 26 storeys and 30 storeys tall.
The site covered council-owned land as well as land owned by music and dance college Trinity Laban.
The plans also included a five storey building that would have designated performance space for Trinity Laban. The plans were subject to a joint Section 106 agreement between Lewisham Council, Trinity Laban, Kitewood and Galliard.
However, Trinity Laban didn’t sign the Section 106 agreement and the consented plans were never officially issued.
Since then, L&G has emerged as a BTR investor for the wider site and agreed commercial terms with Galliard for their adjoining land.
The latest proposals are a joint venture between L&G and Galliard which do not include Trinity Laban’s portion of land. All of the affordable housing would be built entirely on council-owned land, should the plans eventually be granted.
