London's £500 Million Elephant and Castle Town Centre Opens, With First Shops Trading and 485 Homes Launched

A £500 million new town centre in London's Elephant and Castle, The Elephant, opened on Thursday (November 12), with the first shops and restaurants welcoming visitors, marking a new stage for a regeneration project a decade in planning and building. Developer Get Living said the scheme has about 135,000 sq ft of shops, dining and leisure space, alongside 485 homes. (Image: a render of the new town centre's retail streets. Source: Get Living.)

First retailers open; more than 90% of space let

The first wave of openings includes an M&S Foodhall on Ragstone Street, where shoppers queued before the doors opened; the store has an in-store bakery, flower and wine sections and a collection point for online orders, and has created more than 60 jobs. Mango, Oliver Bonas, Søstrene Grene, Superdrug, Starbucks and Pret are among the other businesses reported to have opened. Of the 116,459 sq ft of commercial space available at launch, 93% is already let or under offer. Still to come are The Elephant Kitchen, a food hall with 14 independent kitchens, and an Everyman Cinema in 2027.

485 homes, including 172 affordable homes

The residential element, Elephant Quarter, delivers 485 rental homes, from studios to three-bedroom apartments, of which 172 are described as affordable. London Living Rent apartments start at £1,398 a month, and private one-bedroom homes from £2,950 a month. The scheme also has about 50,000 sq ft of workspace and a new town square, and has incorporated foundations for a possible future Bakerloo line extension.

Old centre closed in 2020; fate of former traders still watched

The former Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre opened in 1965 and closed in September 2020 before being demolished. Alongside larger shops, it housed independent traders, market stalls and Latin American cafés. Its closure prompted a dispute about where those businesses could go: local charity Latin Elephant says nearly 50 displaced traders were relocated immediately after the centre closed, while others were left without a space. Get Living has said eligible former traders will get priority when applying for discounted market-rent units at The Elephant, though priority is not a guarantee of a unit. Southwark Council welcomed the opening; Councillor Victor Chamberlain called it an important milestone in the area's long-term transformation. A new campus for the University of the Arts London's London College of Communication is due to open in September 2027, and an improved Northern line entrance in 2030; a free Urban Elephant Festival takes place on Saturday (November 14). (Sources: Get Living; London Daily News; BDC Magazine; Completely Retail News.)