Skip to main content
Elephant and Castle shopping centre closes doors for good
The south London complex is due to be demolished and replaced with 1,000 new homes, only 116 of which will be social housing
The Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre in south London

THE historic Elephant and Castle shopping centre will close its doors for the last time on Thursday, leaving some 40 traders with nowhere to go. 

The south London complex, built 55 years ago, is due to be demolished to make way for a massive £4 billion development of almost 1,000 new homes — of which only 116 will be social housing — and a new shopping complex. 

It follows a years-long campaign by local traders and activists to halt the development and protect the centre’s unique community of largely Latin-American traders. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
POLICING THE POLICE: GLC leader Ken Livingstone (centre), wi
Features / 10 March 2023
10 March 2023
In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account
Eritrean female soldiers
Features / 12 December 2022
12 December 2022
On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara
Similar stories
West Ham United's Michail Antonio on the pitch before the Premier League match at the London Stadium, March 10, 2025
Men’s Football / 9 May 2025
9 May 2025
Women’s tennis / 23 April 2025
23 April 2025
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick. Photo: Lucy North/PA
Tory party / 23 April 2025
23 April 2025

Badenoch under pressure to sack shadow justice secretary