Officers back 138 homes on Romford's Como Street car park with no affordable housing, despite 121 objections. Councillors decide on Thursday 17 September.

Havering’s planning officers are recommending approval for 138 homes on the Como Street car park in Romford. None of them would be affordable housing.

The Strategic Planning Committee decides the application, reference P0897.25, at 7pm on Thursday 17 September in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall. The committee report says the application is “by or on behalf of the Council”, which is why it goes to committee rather than being decided by officers.

It drew 161 representations. 121 were objections, including from the Como Street Car Park Action Group, and two supported it.

What would be built

The site is the 0.68 hectare surface car park between Como Street, North Street and the St Edwards Way roundabout, with the River Rom along its western edge. It has 141 parking spaces today, seven of them disabled bays.

The scheme, as the report describes it, includes:

  • 138 homes: 135 flats and three houses
  • 44 one-bed, 63 two-bed and 31 three-bed homes, the three-beds including the houses
  • three blocks of flats of up to nine storeys, plus a short terrace of three-storey houses on Como Street
  • 522 square metres of shops, offices or community space, split into seven ground floor units
  • no car parking for residents apart from four blue badge bays, plus one for the commercial units
  • 258 long-stay cycle spaces for residents
  • a public route through the site linking Como Street, North Street and St Edwards Way, and new landscaping along the river

The tallest block, Block D, is part eight and part nine storeys, roughly 29 metres at its highest. The report says it is more than 60 metres from the nearest house on Linden Street. Earlier versions reached 14 storeys, and the number of homes has come down from 170.

The applicant told residents during consultation that works were envisaged to start in 2026 and take about two and a half years.

Why there is no affordable housing

The London Plan sets a 50% affordable housing target on public sector land, and the report says this site counts as public sector land. Havering’s Local Plan asks for 70% of any affordable homes to be for social or affordable rent.

The scheme offers none. The applicant submitted a financial viability assessment prepared by Savills, which concluded the scheme “currently generates a viability deficit”. The council had that assessment and the construction costs independently reviewed. Officers accept that zero is “the maximum reasonable offer”.

Instead, the legal agreement would include early and late-stage viability reviews. The late review would come at the point 80% of the homes are sold. If the finances have improved by then, a contribution could be captured.

Councillors who saw the scheme before it was submitted asked for council housing across the whole site. The applicant’s answer, quoted in the report, is that its viability assessment “has driven the final mix”.

Representations on the Como Street car park application 161 representations were received on application P0897.25: 121 objections, 36 comments, 2 in support and 2 with no comment. The scheme proposes 138 homes, 0 of them affordable, on a car park with 141 spaces today. Como Street car park: what residents told the council 161 representations on application P0897.25 Objections 121 Comments 36 Support 2 No comment 2 138 homes proposed 0 affordable homes 141 car park spaces lost Source: Havering Council, Strategic Planning Committee report, 17 September 2026 Graphic by Romford Today
Every figure is from the officers' report to the Strategic Planning Committee.

What objectors said

The report groups the objections into ten themes. They include:

  • pressure on GP surgeries, NHS dentists, schools and Queen’s Hospital
  • traffic on Mawney Road, North Street and the ring road
  • the loss of the public car park, and parking spilling into Como Street, Linden Street, Marshalls Road and Brooklands Road
  • nine storeys being out of character next to Victorian terraces
  • overlooking and lost daylight for Linden Street gardens
  • flood risk beside the River Rom
  • bats and other wildlife along the river corridor

Some objectors suggested houses instead, or a limit of three or four storeys.

Committee members raised similar points when they saw the scheme before it was submitted, and the report sets out the applicant’s replies. Residents’ disappointment with the public engagement was “emphasised by Ward Cllr Taylor”. The applicant’s reply also records that Cllr Taylor said the action group “would likely accept 7 storeys”.

How officers answered

On the car park, officers say it is transport infrastructure, not “social infrastructure” such as a surgery or library, so planning policy does not require it to be replaced. The site has been allocated for housing since the council’s 2008 site allocations document, which set a density range of 165 to 275 homes per hectare. This scheme is 203.

On new residents’ cars, the legal agreement would bar them from applying for on-street parking permits.

On flooding, the Environment Agency withdrew its objection, subject to conditions. The council’s lead local flood authority raised “no fundamental objection”.

On infrastructure, the legal agreement would include:

  • £852,377 for school places
  • £179,909 for health infrastructure
  • £138,000 for public realm and sustainable transport on the ring road
  • £74,812 for carbon offsetting
  • £20,000 for accessibility measures at Mawney Primary School

The scheme would also pay £360,430 in Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy, according to the report, on top of Havering’s own levy.

The weight officers give to housing numbers

The report leans heavily on Havering’s housing record. It says the government’s Housing Delivery Test, published on 17 August 2026, showed the borough delivered 40% of the homes it needed over three years. It also says Havering cannot show a five-year supply of housing land.

Under national policy, that means a presumption in favour of granting permission. Officers conclude there is no objection in principle, and that 138 homes deserve “substantial weight”.

What it means for you

  • The meeting is public. It starts at 7pm on Thursday 17 September in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Main Road, Romford RM1 3BD, and the agenda says it is webcast.
  • Registration to speak has closed. The agenda asked speakers to register on 01708 433100 before Tuesday 15 September.
  • The committee does not have to follow its officers. Its five members, four from the Reform group and one from the Havering Aligned Residents’ Association group, can refuse the application or defer it.
  • If it is approved, the legal agreement has to be signed by 17 March 2027, or the Director of Planning can refuse the application or extend the deadline.
  • If you park at Como Street, it is one of two Romford council car parks, with Old Church Rise, that open 24 hours from Monday to Saturday. The alternatives and their prices are on our parking in Romford page.
  • Other big schemes in the town are tracked on our Romford planning news page.

Sources