Goldsmiths will not move its art and design students into Catford's Old Town Hall in 2027. The council says it is surprised and frustrated after a year of work.
Goldsmiths, University of London, has pulled out of its move to Catford. The university will not take a lease on the Old Town Hall when its Deptford lease ends next year, and will consolidate on its New Cross campus instead.
Lewisham Council confirmed the decision on Friday 23 October (Lewisham Council). The move was the centrepiece of the council’s plan to bring life back to Catford town centre, and was due to bring about 600 students into the Old Town Hall from September 2027.
What the council said
A council spokesperson said: “We worked with Goldsmiths in good faith for around a year to prepare the Old Town Hall to welcome students from September 2027, so we are surprised and frustrated by this decision. We know how important this move was to the people of Catford and our partners.”
The council said the decision was made by Goldsmiths “based on their own financial and strategic considerations following a change in university leadership last month”.
It also said it had made “significant investment into the building to facilitate the move”, and that officers were still working on the plans “right up until we received the communication from Goldsmiths that they would not be proceeding”.
Goldsmiths had not published a statement of its own on its news pages when we checked on Sunday 25 October.
What was agreed in January
Mayor and Cabinet approved the deal on 21 January 2026 (decision record). It:
- approved a 10-year lease of the Old Town Hall to Goldsmiths for its design and fine art courses
- noted heads of terms, with a further decision to come back before the lease was signed
- approved council investment in works to the Catford campus
- approved contracts for the works needed to deliver the lease
The amount of that investment was never made public. It sat in a confidential Part 2 report, alongside the cost of moving existing tenants out of the building.
The January report set out why Goldsmiths wanted to come. It needed about 6,000 square metres for its postgraduate design and fine art department, because it has to leave the former Lewisham College site at Deptford Bridge by July 2027. That site is earmarked for redevelopment, with 802 homes planned. The report said Goldsmiths saw Catford as “the only suitable location in Lewisham” for its needs.
The risks were on the record in September
The council’s Catford Town Centre Business Plan, approved on 9 September, still called the project “strategically compelling”. It said the programme “remains on track”, but that delivery was “challenging due to the compressed timescales”. The council needed the Old Town Hall empty by autumn 2026 so works could finish before the 2027 academic year.
The same report said success depended on “Goldsmiths’ ability to enter into the lease”. It acknowledged “the financial pressure” on Goldsmiths and the wider university sector, and said the council was “seeking assurances” on “the longer-term sustainability of the proposed move to Catford”. We covered that plan when it was approved.
Who had to move out
To make room, the council planned to move most of the Old Town Hall’s existing tenants into Laurence House, using two floors freed up by cutting its own office space. The January report said tenants who could not be moved there would be helped to find other premises. When Mayor and Cabinet met, concern was raised about the impact on artists based in the building at Beaux Arts. The minutes record that the Mayor and Cabinet “noted the need to support affected tenants”.
The plan also changed the order of Catford’s regeneration. The Old Town Hall had been earmarked as the first site to be redeveloped, as a refurbished council office. The January report admitted that leasing it to Goldsmiths would make “the aspired housing delivery on Council controlled sites” more difficult in the short term.
What happens to the building now
The council has not said. Its spokesperson said it would “take some time to consider how to move forward in terms of the long-term use of the Old Town Hall, as part of our refreshed masterplan for Catford”.
The statement does not say how much of the building has already been emptied, whether any tenants can return, or what the works have cost so far.
What it means for you
- If you run a business in Catford: the 500 to 600 students and staff the council expected from September 2027 are no longer coming. The January report had counted on them for footfall and local spending.
- If you are a Goldsmiths student or applicant in design or fine art: the university plans to bring these courses back to its New Cross campus. Check Goldsmiths’ own course pages for where you will be taught from 2027.
- If you rented space in the Old Town Hall: the council’s statement does not mention existing or former tenants. Contact the council’s regeneration team about whether space is available again.
- On the town centre plan: the council says the Old Town Hall’s future will now be settled in its refreshed masterplan for Catford, which has not yet been published.
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