1,000 homes could be built above Elephant Shopping Centre

St Modwen, which co-owns the centre, this week published its annual report which talks of "regeneration of the existing shopping centre with the opportunity for up to 1,000 residential units above".

Southwark Council has signed a cooperation agreement with St Modwen which is working on proposals to strip the shopping centre back to its core and rebuild and extend the complex.

The council had previously envisaged that the covered shopping centre would be replaced by an open-air street of shops as part of the Elephant & Castle regeneration programme.

We first reported the idea that residential development could be incorporated in the centre's redevelopment last April but this is the first time that St Modwen has given an indication of the number of homes proposed.

When you consider that the entire Heygate Estate contains 1,100 homes it is clear that St Modwen is proposing a major increase in the density of development on the shopping centre plot.

By comparison, the Metro Central Heights complex and the Strata SE1 tower each contain about 400 homes.

Last June the developer released two concept images showing how the centre could be redeveloped.