 By the end of the 1960s , traffic congestion was causing problems for the market , which required increasingly large lorries for deliveries and distribution . Redevelopment was considered , but protests from the Covent Garden Community Association in 1973 prompted the Home Secretary , Robert Carr , to give dozens of buildings around the square listed @-@ building status , preventing redevelopment . The following year the market relocated to its new site , New Covent Garden Market , about three miles ( 5 km ) south @-@ west at Nine Elms . The central building re @-@ opened as a shopping centre in 1980 , with cafes , pubs , small shops and a craft market called the Apple Market . Another market , the Jubilee Market , is held in the Jubilee Hall on the south side of the square . The market halls and several other buildings in Covent Garden have been owned by the property company Capital & Counties Properties ( CapCo ) since 2006 . 
