Lewisham in South East London has had a long and eventful history. Alfred the Great was Lord of the Manor in the late 800s AD. More recently, the area’s reputation has developed hugely. It’s managed to grow in attractiveness and prestige, without its character being entirely bulldozed by the forces of gentrification. Lewisham’s commercial area is one of the largest in South East London. The local council has set its sights on overtaking Bromley, Croydon and Kingston as metropolitan hubs. But where are the best places to live in Lewisham?
Note: We know the title of this post says “Top 5”, but we’ve added a lot more developments in Lewisham to the HomeViews site since this list was first created! With this wider range of top-notch properties, the competition for the top spot is definitely heating up.
Top 10 best new developments in Lewisham
The best way to find out where the best places to live in Lewisham is by asking the people who already live there. So we did exactly that! Every day we speak to hundreds of locals across the capital. We ask what they think not only about their area, but also their specific homes. Here’s the inside track from the people who know Lewisham best.
*PLEASE NOTE these rankings take into account how recently residents submitted reviews, so may not match the overall star ratings shown. More recent reviews are given a greater weighting to reflect current building performance.
Recently overtaking Fizzy Lewisham to snatch the number one spot in Lewisham is Bale & Anchor by urbanbubble and Legal & General. Bale & Anchor is a rental development with studio, one, two or three-bedroom apartments. Lewisham’s National Rail and the DLR are on its doorstep for commuting. Residents can enjoy communal lounge areas, roof terraces and private dining spaces.
Fizzy Lewisham occupies the number 2 ranking. This highly popular development is right next to the main station. Fizzy Living is responsible for creating a pet-friendly scheme of one and two-bedroom flats. Residents here love the clean lines and contemporary feel of this development.
3rd place goes to Vida House by Way of Life. This rental-only residential development is only a short walk away from Surrey Quays Overground station as well as Canada Water Underground station. Each of the 138 one and two-bedroom apartments on site have an open-plan layout. These come with a fully fitted kitchen with integrated dishwasher, washer/dryer and a fridge-freezer. In addition, the apartments have large bathrooms, bright and airy receptions as well as spacious double bedrooms with a walk-in cupboard for additional storage space. Residents also have access to a secure car park and ample underground bike storage area. Similarly, there is a dedicated management team on site with 24-hour CCTV security.
The 4th highest-rated new development in the borough of Lewisham is Vive Living Childers Street. This is a rental-only development within easy reach of Deptford station. The building offers 83 rental units, all within easy reach of all the local amenities.
Our fifth spot in Lewisham goes to Deptford Foundry, which is a mixed-use development by Anthology London. The development is set on the site of an old metal foundry, which was built in the 1800s. There are more than 300 homes on offer here, with a mix of private and social housing apartments. It welcomed its first residents at the end of 2018. In addition, Deptford Foundry is in the middle of south-east London’s lively Deptford district, putting it close to Deptford and New Cross stations, which offer easy access to Greenwich.
Next up, Greenland Place by Barratt London is a mixed-use scheme which features 679 residential units including one, two and three-bedroom apartments, studios as well as three, four and five-bedroom houses across a number of different buildings. The development also has a business centre, a children’s nursery as well as various commercial units. Surrey Quays is the nearest station with connections to the Overground.
In seventh, UNCLE New Cross is a rental-only development comprising one, two and three-bedroom apartments in south-east London. It’s conveniently located for Canary Wharf, the City and Greenwich, and its nearest transport links come courtesy of New cross station and New Cross Gate station.
For our next top-ranking development we have Renaissance, which is a Barratt London development and Assael design that offers a selection of 788 studio, one, two, three and four bedroom residential units spanning over its 24 storeys. The development is surrounded by various local amenities including the Lewisham Shopping Centre and Tesco Superstore. Lewisham Station is within walking distance and offers various speedy rail services into Central London.
Number 9 goes to Silkworks, developed by St James and designed by ESA Architecture. The development offers 330 studio, one and two-bedroom apartments, most of which have balconies and some of which have a car parking space. It is located just an 8-minute walk from the station, with direct links to London Victoria in just 23-minutes.
Finally, the last top-ranked spot on our newly expanded Lewisham list is Portrait, a high-rise development comprising one to three-bedroom apartments and penthouses. The property was built by Muse and designed by architect, PRP. Close-by transport links come courtesy of Lewisham station, which is serviced by the DLR and National Rail trains.
One happy resident says that the location makes Portrait a great place to live: “There is good transport links in the area which allows me to go from the development, to work and any place that I would like to go to. There are really nice parks nearby and also Blackheath is really close.”
Lewisham is steadily improving in all areas thanks to increasingly large investment from both private and public sources. It’s still possible to sweep up gorgeous properties for better-than-average prices here, as gentrification is happening at a much slower pace than in other parts of London. In fact, Lewisham is seen as one of the best value areas in Zone 2.
It’s also a very well-connected area. Lewisham enjoys DLR access to Canary Wharf and good train links to London Bridge. Then of course, there is the much-anticipated Bakerloo Line extension, which will reach Lewisham and make travel even more convenient.
Lewisham does have an ongoing issue with its crime rate, which until recently was higher than the London average. However, major crime reduction and community outreach programmes are currently underway, and the borough now reports around one per cent fewer crimes than the overall London rate. One initiative is the DIVERT programme, which has already helped custody intervention coaches work with more than 1,000 Londoners aged between 18 and 25. The local authority is making efforts to improve public safety and security across the borough.
Is Lewisham an expensive place to live?
Lewisham is one of the most affordable parts of London to buy, rent and live in June 2024. With an average property price of £587,000 according to Rightmove, it’s significantly cheaper than the current London average (£697,000), making it one of the most competitively priced boroughs.
Hopefully this list will give you some guidance when looking for places to live in Lewisham. If you want to know more, consult our dedicated area guide for more developments and the insights from their residents.
Lewisham lies just a few miles south-east of Central London. A borough given a little more than just a fresh coat of paint in recent years. In fact, this area has seen plenty in the way of renovation. Including, a transformation of the town Read more about Borough of Lewisham
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