Plans to dismantle and move temporary accommodation at PLACE/Ladywell to make way for 200 homes have been approved. 

PLACE, a ‘pop-up village’ owned by Lewisham Council, has housed families who were made homeless since it opened in 2016.  

The building, made up of 24 transportable flats and 16 office spaces, took six months to build and will now be taken down and moved from Lewisham High Street to elsewhere in the borough.  

The just under £5 million scheme, a UK-first, won two New London Architecture awards in 2016. 

Mayor and Cabinet approved the 200 hundred homes for the site in March 2019, 50 per cent at London Affordable Rent and 50 per cent at full market rent. 

The proposals include four blocks of up to ten storeys.  

The plans to take down the pop-up building were approved at a private mayoral meeting last week, which the cabinet joined via video conference.  

Where PLACE will be moved to is yet to be decided.

The council has planning permission for a pop-up village of 34 flats on Edward Street in Deptford, a potential site.

The pop-up in Deptford, once built, will also include a community nursery, commercial space, and a communal courtyard. 

A spokesperson for the council said: “We are looking at the feasibility of a number of sites in Lewisham.” 

According the council’s printed decision online, “having considered a confidential report, and a presentation by the cabinet member for housing, Councillor Paul Bell,” the mayor approved the decision to move the temporary housing.  

The budget for the works to dismantle, remove, and store the building was also approved, but is not available to the public at this time.  

Once chosen, the new site for PLACE will go back to mayor and cabinet for approval.