Council acquires more land on Old Kent Road

Southwark Council has purchased 719-725 and 727 Old Kent Road as part of its plans to revitalise an historic high street.

The site comprises several shops at ground level (one of which is being used as a church) and three vacant, dilapidated flats above.

It is located inbetween the Folgate Estates site, where new homes and commercial space are due to be built, and a parade of Victorian shops which the council intends to restore.

The council wants to restore a high street character to this part of Old Kent Road and the purchase of the new site was fully funded with money secured from the Government’s Future High Streets Fund .

The development of 719-25 and 27 Old Kent Road will be done as part of a larger scheme which also incorporates the Folgate Estates site. The plans are still at a very early stage and there will be a full consultation with the local community to determine the best approach, for the combined sites, next year.

In total, Southwark Council has received £9.7m in Future High Streets funding for projects throughout the Old Kent Road regeneration area, including the Livesey Exchange community project and a new pocket park.

Combined with the restoration of the shops on the Folgate Estates site and the work to restore the historic mural on the former Kentish Drovers pub (just over the road), the acquisition of the new site will enable this stretch of Old Kent Road to reclaim its high street heyday and will bring a new vitality to the neighbourhood.

Read more about the benefits of regenerating Old Kent Road