Publication Date: 30-10-2025 09:00
Bellway starts work on new development after completing demolition of former hospital buildings in Romford
Bellway has finished demolition work on the former Harold Wood Hospital site in Romford, clearing the way for construction to start on a development of 96 new homes.
The development, called The Comptons, will feature 74 properties for private sale and 22 affordable homes on a 2.8-acre site off Copse Avenue.
As part of the development, Bellway is to invest more than £1.3 million into local services and facilities. This will include £954,335 in Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments, as well as contributions of £250,361 for secondary school places, £60,000 towards bus stop upgrades, and a carbon offsetting contribution of £38,245 through the planning agreement.
William Weston-Smith, Land Director for Bellway Thames Gateway, said: “The completion of demolition work at the former Harold Wood Hospital site is a very important step in the process of regenerating this redundant brownfield site. We can now press on with the construction programme which should enable us to release the first homes onto the market in the summer of 2026.
“The development will provide a range of much-needed private and affordable housing in a sustainable location just a 10-minute walk from Harold Wood railway station. As well as delivering 96 high-quality and energy-efficient new homes we will be making a significant investment to help improve the local infrastructure which includes a contribution for extra secondary school places.
“The Comptons will bring other tangible benefits for the local community as it will provide new public spaces where residents new and old alike can meet and socialise outdoors. The site will feature communal gardens and play space and will incorporate a landscaping programme allowing the retention of some existing trees and new planting.
“As part of our commitment to prioritise biodiversity, we worked with nature restoration company Nattergal to rehome slow worms which were living on the site. Nattergal created a new habitat for the slow worms at its rewilding site in Essex – Harold’s Park Wildland – and they were relocated there in the summer.”
The development will occupy a site which was once the hospital’s Long-Term Condition Centre and Bellway Thames Gateway has agreed to provide 23 parking spaces for the neighbouring NHS Harold Wood Polyclinic as part of the project.
The wider former hospital site is now home to the Kings Park residential neighbourhood, where plans for 810 homes were given outline planning permission in 2010. The Comptons will be one of the final parcels of the hospital land to be redeveloped.
The 74 private homes at The Comptons comprise a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments and three and four-bedroom houses, while the 22 affordable homes feature one, two, and three-bedroom apartments available for local people through low-cost rent.
To find out more about The Comptons, visit https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/thames-gateway/the-comptons.
