Lewisham updates local plan with commitment to build more than 30,000 homes by 2040
Lewisham council has increased its housing target by nearly 10% as part of its updated local plan.
The south east London local authority has committed to building 30,376 homes over the next 15 years, from 2025/26 to 2039/40.
The target was signed off at a full meeting of the council on Wednesday 16 July and follows two years of public and independent examination.
The 9.5% boost to its housing target includes the London Plan baseline of 1,667 homes a year and a 20% buffer of 380 homes a year for the first five years.
The council said the buffer was due to “underperformance by developers” in the 2023 Housing Delivery Test, an annual government measurement of housing delivery in areas of relevant plan-making authorities.
The target also includes an additional 231 homes a year for the remainder of the local plan to address Lewisham’s housing backlog.
Key regeneration opportunities highlighted in the plan include Convoys Wharf, a 20ha brownfield site earmarked for 3,500 homes and 48,000sq m of workspace, and the 6.4 acre Lewisham Shopping Centre site, which has been allocated 1,600 homes and 20,000sq m of workspace.
The plan also sets out longer-term opportunities which would be offered by investment in the Bakerloo Line extension, which would extend the Tube line from Elephant & Castle across south east London to Lewisham.
Lewisham mayor Brenda Dacres said adopting the plan gives the council “strategic direction and tools to continue growing the borough in a sustainable and fair way”.
“The plan will ensure Lewisham continues to be a welcoming place, where diversity is recognised and protected. A place that people want to visit, live in, where they choose to stay and enjoy a good quality of life and feel supported to achieve their full potential,” she said.
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