The London shopping centres that were once a major draw to the city’s suburban high streets are closing at remarkable pace.
Many of the capital’s malls, built between the 1960s and 1990s, now face demolition to make way for thousands of flats and office space in place of stores.
High street shops have struggled with the rise of online shopping, and high business rates and rents squeeze profits. But schemes to replace London’s aging malls have proved controversial.
Plans to replace Lewisham Shopping Centre with more than 1,700 homes were given the green light on Thursday night despite protests from locals.
Developer Landsec Lewisham Limited received permission to demolish the mall and the multi-storey car park to build tower blocks up to 35 storeys high in its place.
The Lewisham People’s Assembly urged the council to reconsider, with the group stating: “The proposed demolition of Lewisham Shopping Centre for luxury flats is a blueprint for gentrification.
“It will displace our community, destroy a vital hub, and serve only the interests of corporate profit.”
It comes as the campaign to save the Aylesham Shopping Centre and Market in Peckham, another mall earmarked for development, received a major boost this week as comedians Nish Kumar and James Acaster joined the fight.
The celebrities have backed protesters who have dubbed Berkeley Homes’ proposal zto tear down the mall and build 867 homes on the site as “gentrification on steroids”.
The Aylesham Centre, built in the 1980s, is set to be bulldozed and replaced by a mixed development with flats.
But campaigners believe the developer is targeting second homes or investment opportunity buyers rather than building accommodation for locals.
TV presenter Kumar and Off Menu podcast co-host Acaster held fundraising gigs to help the protesters and raised more than £46,000 to challenge the project at a planning inspectorate inquiry later this month.
This week a major planning application to demolish the Treaty Centre was submitted to Hounslow Council.
Developers want to replace the 270,194 sq ft mall, built in 1987, with build-to-rent homes, as well as cultural facilities and commercial space.
In recent years the centre has struggled, particularly after the loss of major tenants, such as Debenhams in 2021.
But residents have expressed concerns about losing access to shops and a town centre filled with high rise flats.
In Edgware, controversial plans to build thousands of new homes across high-rise blocks, along with a new bus garage on the site of the Broadwalk Shopping Centre have faced local opposition.
Developers Ballymore and Places for London – TfL’s property arm – want to build 3,365 flats, a third of which would be “affordable”, in blocks up to 29 storeys high on the area next to Edgware Underground Station.
Almost 500 flats for students, a replacement bus station and garage, library, community centre and some retail and leisure space are also outlined in the proposals.
Ballymore’s developments director, Simon Ryan, told a packed planning committee over the summer that the town had “suffered from decades of underinvestment”.
“We recognise that a proposal of this scale naturally generates strong views, but this level of ambition is exactly what’s needed to deliver lasting, meaningful regeneration in Edgware,” he said.
In Sutton, the 1990s St Nicholas Shopping Centre is set to be replaced by hundreds of apartments and “civic centre”.
The mall is another that has struggled in recent years, as customers turn to online shopping, and has failed to attract tenants for its units.
The council has announced proposals for around 740 new homes, half of which its said will be “affordable” for local families, including nearly 300 homes for social rent.
In Rotherhithe, British Land’s long-awaited overhaul of Surrey Quays Shopping Centre will see it bulldozed to make way for new town centre with housing and green space.
However, demolition is not expected for several years.
While in Romford, 1,000 new homes are planned for the Liberty Shopping Centre.
Owner Redical Ltd has requested opinions the project this month ahead of submitting a formal planning bid.
