Building guide · Elephant & Castle · updated October 2026
Elephant Park: a guide to every phase
Elephant Park is Lendlease’s regeneration of the former Heygate Estate: about 3,200 homes around a new two-acre park, with the final phases finishing in 2026.
This guide lists every phase, what is in each, and what owners letting from abroad should know.
01 · The scheme
What Elephant Park is
Elephant Park is a £2.5 billion regeneration by Lendlease, working in partnership with Southwark Council (Lendlease).
Building started in 2013, and the scheme is planned to hold about 3,200 homes and more than 50 shops, cafés and restaurants.
At its centre is a two-acre park, now open.
02 · Before
What it replaced
Elephant Park replaced the Heygate Estate: 1,214 council homes built in 1971–74 on a nine-hectare site and demolished between 2011 and 2014 (Wikipedia).
The scheme was contentious: critics pointed to the small number of social-rented homes compared with the estate it replaced, and to the price Southwark received for the land.
03 · The phases
The phases and their size
These are the main residential phases, from the first to the last.
Highwood Gardens and Orchard Gardens are part of West Grove; Park & Sayer is also known as plot H7.
04 · How it was built
Thirteen years, phase by phase
Several phases won design awards; the last residential phase, The Wilderly on Rodney Road SE17, topped out in June 2025.
One plot, H1, was still awaiting development at the time of writing.
05 · Build-to-rent
The rental blocks you compete with
Some Elephant Park blocks are owned by a single landlord and let directly.
Lendlease and CPP Investments built a portfolio of 904 rental homes here, and in June 2026 Greystar announced it was buying it (Yahoo Finance).
For an owner letting a single flat nearby, these blocks set tenants’ expectations on service and repairs.
06 · Living there
Day to day at Elephant Park
The scheme spans SE17 and SE1, which matters for licensing checks.
Read the Elephant & Castle guide for transport, the town centre and local rules.
07 · Letting from abroad
Letting an Elephant Park flat from Asia
If you bought at Elephant Park from Hong Kong, Singapore or Malaysia, your rent falls under the Non-Resident Landlord scheme unless you have NRL1 approval.
Most of SE17 is covered by Southwark’s selective licensing, so check whether your address needs a licence before you let (Southwark Council).
We are based in SE17 and let and manage flats across Elephant Park, in English, with Cantonese or Malay on request.
FAQ · Elephant Park
Questions, answered
What owners, buyers and parents abroad ask us first.
Sources · every fact on this page
Where the facts come from
General information, not tax or legal advice. Rules change, so check the official source or a qualified adviser before you act.