Every Havering car park gives 30 minutes free, except Romford's. Tariffs from £2.60 an hour, free Sundays, permits from £45 and the Blue Badge trap.
Havering gives drivers 30 minutes free, once a day, anywhere in the borough. Hornchurch, Upminster, Gidea Park, Rainham, Collier Row, Elm Park, Cranham, Emerson Park and Harold Wood all have it, on-street and in the car parks. Romford does not. The council states it plainly on its paying for parking page: 30 minutes free parking, “excluding Romford”.
Check the tariff sheet and it holds up. Angel Way, Market Place, Old Church Rise, Slaney Road, Como Street and the Town Hall car parks all start at £2.60 for the first hour with no free half hour above it, and so do the Romford on-street bays on South Street, High Street, Albert Road and the rest. Appleton Way in Hornchurch, three miles away, starts with 30 minutes at £0.00.
If your errand is a ten-minute one, that difference is the whole cost of the trip, and it is the single most useful thing to know about parking here.
The tariff, which is the same almost everywhere
Havering runs one tariff across its surface car parks. From the council’s charges, locations and operating hours schedule:
| Stay | Charge |
|---|---|
| Up to 30 minutes | £0.00 (once a day, borough-wide, not in Romford) |
| Up to 1 hour | £2.60 |
| 1 to 2 hours | £4.40 |
| 2 to 3 hours | £6.20 |
| 3 to 4 hours | £8.00 |
| 4 to 5 hours | £10.00 |
| 5 to 6 hours | £12.00 |
| 6 to 7 hours | £14.00 |
| 7 to 12 hours | £15.00 |
| Solo motorcycles | £2.50 flat, for the maximum stay |
| Overnight, 6pm to 7am | £2.00 where the car park stays open |
Maximum stay is 12 hours in most car parks. Sunday is free in every council car park, with one catch below. On-street bays run a shorter tariff, capped at three hours with no return within two hours, and they are also free on Sundays.
Romford’s car parks, and their hours
- Angel Way, 7am to 8pm, max 12 hours. Closed on Sundays, so it is the one Romford car park where “free on Sunday” does not help you. It shuts at 8pm, so no overnight.
- Como Street and Old Church Rise, open 24 hours Monday to Saturday, max stay 12 hours, free on Sunday. These two are the answer if you need a car overnight in the town centre.
- Market Place, which works around the market: 6am to 10:30pm on Mondays, 6am to 7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is the one car park whose published tariff stops at two hours (£2.60 then £4.40) and lists no maximum stay. Overnight on non-market days is £2.00, from 10:30pm on Mondays and from 7pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
- Slaney Road, 7am to 8pm, overnight 8pm to 7am at £2.00.
- Town Hall car park: the front section (1 and 2) runs 7am to 6pm. The rear section (3 and 4) opens Saturdays and Sundays only.
Genuinely free parking in Romford
Four Havering car parks charge nothing at any time. Three of them are in Romford:
- Cottons Park
- Lodge Farm Park North (Main Road)
- Lodge Farm Park South (Carlton Road)
- Windmill Hall, Upminster
All four run 8am to 6pm with a three-hour maximum Monday to Friday, five hours on Saturday, and no return within two hours. Sunday is unrestricted. They are park car parks rather than shopping ones, but Lodge Farm Park North on Main Road is a walk from the town centre.
Elsewhere in the borough
Hornchurch has the most council spaces: Appleton Way, Billet Lane, Dorrington Gardens, Fentiman Way, Keswick Avenue and Woodhall Crescent, all 7am to 6pm with the free half hour and £2.00 overnight. Upminster has Corbets Tey Road (Hoppy Hall), 7am to 8pm, and Wilson Close off Gaynes Road, which is capped at three hours and closes overnight. Rainham has Cherry Tree Lane and Viking Way (Tesco); Gidea Park has Balgores Square; Collier Row has Rex Close; Elm Park has St Nicholas Avenue East at the library; Cranham has Front Lane.
Paying: the machines do not take coins
Havering removed cash from its machines. They accept contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and prepaid contactless cards. If you need to pay cash, the route is PayPoint at a local shop. Otherwise it is the RingGo app, or the phone number on the machine.
There is a 10-minute grace period once your paid session expires, and civil enforcement officers observe for roughly five minutes before issuing anything, to give you time to pay.
Bank holidays are not free. The council is explicit: every restriction, including yellow lines, resident permit zones, moving traffic and all pay and display, applies on bank holidays unless the signs say otherwise. The single exception is Christmas Day.
Permits
Havering runs its permits through MiPermit, and prices rise steeply with the number of cars at an address.
| Permit | Cost |
|---|---|
| Resident, first per household | £45 a year |
| Resident, second | £90 a year |
| Resident, third | £140 a year |
| Visitor permits, per 10 | £28 |
| All-day visitor permits, per 10 | £70 |
| Domestic carer | £40 a year |
| Health and homecare | £80 a year |
| Business | £420 a year |
| Commuter bay | £1,400 a year |
| Resident season ticket for car parks | £212 a year |
Check whether your street is in a permit parking area or controlled parking zone before you apply.
Blue Badge: free on the street, not in the car park
This is the rule most badge holders get wrong, and Havering states it on its Blue Badge page.
On-street, a Blue Badge parks free for unlimited time in pay and display bays, in resident permit bays, and in disabled bays that carry no time limit (three hours in bays that do).
In a council car park, a Blue Badge holder pays. The only exception is a vehicle that is exempt from road tax with a tax class of “Disabled”, which gets three hours free and then pays the normal tariff. Signage varies by car park, so read it.
Badge holders still cannot use loading bays during restricted hours, or a disabled bay with a permit number on the sign plate, which belongs to one household. EU disabled badges have the same rights here as UK Blue Badges.
If you need a disabled bay outside your home, the route is an Occupational Therapist assessment through adult social care on 01708 432000. You need to have no off-street parking and a permanent, substantial walking disability. The bay then has to be advertised as a Traffic Regulation Order and objections heard. Worth knowing before you go through it: the bay is not reserved for you. Any vehicle with a valid Blue Badge can legally use it.
Penalty charges
| Contravention | Full | Paid within 14 days |
|---|---|---|
| Higher level, band A | £160 | £80 |
| Higher level, band B | £140 | £70 |
| Lower level, band A | £110 | £55 |
| Lower level, band B | £90 | £45 |
| Moving traffic | £160 | £80 |
You have 28 days to pay in full. Havering offers instalments if you have recently been made redundant or are on benefits. Appeals and challenges go through the parking tickets pages.
Parking at the station
Romford station has no car park. National Rail lists zero parking spaces and zero accessible spaces there, which surprises people arriving for the Elizabeth line. Commuters use the council car parks instead, and Como Street and Old Church Rise are the two that run 24 hours Monday to Saturday. A full day is £15, or £1,400 a year for a commuter bay permit.
Upminster station does have one, with 498 spaces and four accessible spaces.
Common questions
Is parking free in Romford on a Sunday?
Yes in every council car park except Angel Way, which is closed on Sundays. On-street bays are also free on Sundays.
Why does the 30 minutes free not work in Romford?
Havering excludes Romford from the borough-wide free half hour. The tariff sheet for Romford’s car parks and on-street bays starts at £2.60 for the first hour with no free period above it.
Can I park overnight in Romford town centre?
Yes. Como Street and Old Church Rise are open 24 hours Monday to Saturday. Slaney Road charges £2.00 from 8pm to 7am. Angel Way closes at 8pm.
Do Blue Badge holders pay in Havering car parks?
Yes, unless the vehicle is road-tax exempt with a “Disabled” tax class, which gets three hours free. On-street parking is free and unlimited for badge holders.
Do parking restrictions apply on bank holidays in Havering?
Yes, all of them, including yellow lines and permit zones, unless the signs say otherwise. Christmas Day is the only exception.
Sources
- “On street and car park charges, locations and operating hours”, London Borough of Havering, for every tariff, operating hour, maximum stay and free period quoted here.
- Paying for car park and on street parking spaces for payment methods, the 30 minutes free and its Romford exclusion, and the 10-minute grace period.
- Car parks for the car park list, the motorcycle rate and the bank holiday rule.
- Parking permits for permit prices.
- Blue Badge and parking spaces for disabled people for badge rights and the disabled bay process.
- Parking tickets and traffic fines for penalty charge amounts and deadlines.
- National Rail station pages for Romford and Upminster station parking.
Tariffs and hours change, and the signs at the bay always win over any page. Check the linked council schedule before relying on a figure. Last checked 15 August 2026.
Also useful: Romford bin collection days, Havering council tax bands and Romford roadworks and travel, which covers the Gallows Corner closure.
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