A plan to split 125 Hermon Hill into three rental flats follows a refused six-person HMO. Comments close 18 October and a decision is due by 16 November.
A five-bedroom house on Hermon Hill in South Woodford that Redbridge refused to turn into a shared house in February is the subject of a new application, this time to split it into three flats for rent.
The new application, 2239/26, is for 125 Hermon Hill, E18 1QE. It was validated on 23 September. The council’s register gives 18 October as the end of the publicity period and 16 November as the date a decision is due. It is under assessment with a planning officer.
A local resident from the Protect Hermon Hill campaign wrote to us about it this week. “Residents are concerned that while the legal classification has changed, the practical consequences of intensifying occupation of the property remain similar to those previously opposed,” the resident says.
What the new plan would do
The application form records one detached home being lost: 216.6 square metres, seven habitable rooms and five bedrooms. In its place would be three flats, all listed as “market for rent”:
- Ground floor: a three-bedroom flat of 108.9 square metres, with the rear garden
- First floor: a two-bedroom flat of 67 square metres
- Second floor, in the roof: a one-bedroom flat of 40.7 square metres
The form gives two existing car parking spaces on the forecourt and two proposed, so no change. The design and access statement, by architects Michael Swords Studio, adds six long-stay and two short-stay cycle spaces, with bins and recycling stored at the front.
The same statement classifies the flats as homes for four people, three people and one person. It also flags a problem with the middle figure. The larger bedroom in the first-floor flat measures 9.50 square metres, and the statement notes that “does not meet the 11.5 sqm London Plan minimum for a double/twin bedroom”. It says the flat’s occupancy should be reviewed. Counted with that room as a single, the three flats would house seven people, the figure residents give.
Why the first plan was refused
The earlier application, 3519/25, was submitted in December 2025. It asked to change the house from a family home to a small house in multiple occupation for six people. An officer refused it under delegated powers on 23 February 2026.
The decision notice gives several reasons. Most turned on a loft bedsit that the council said made the scheme an extra self-contained unit, not just a shared house:
- the plans were “misleading/inaccurate/inconsistent with the description of development”
- the house would be lost as a family-sized home “in a location which the Council considers inappropriate for subdivision into flats”, because the site is “not located in a Metropolitan, District or Local Centre”
- the loft bedsit had too little headroom, floor area and outdoor space, and rooflights as its only light and outlook
- there was no completed legal agreement to mitigate the impact on Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation
The notice says the scheme failed Local Plan policies LP5, LP6 and LP26, among others. It also says no pre-application advice was sought.
The question residents are asking
Policy LP6 of the Redbridge Local Plan covers conversions of houses into flats and shared homes. Residents argue it is the test the new scheme has to pass.
“The application raises questions about Policy LP6 of the Redbridge Local Plan, which sets criteria for converting larger homes into flats, including their location within designated centres,” the resident writes. “125 Hermon Hill does not appear to fall within such a designated area, raising the question of whether the proposal satisfies the Council’s own planning framework.”
The February refusal used that same location point against the loft flat. The council has not yet said how it applies to a full three-flat conversion.
The applicant’s statement makes the opposite case. It lists LP6 among the policies it addresses and says the scheme “makes effective use of an existing residential building to provide three homes”. It argues that keeping a three-bedroom garden flat on the ground floor preserves “a genuine family-sized” home. It says there is no material increase in footprint, eaves height or ridge height, and that a bigger roof enlargement was “deliberately excluded”.
The wider worry
The campaign says the house matters beyond one address.
“The development would replace one family household with three independent households, apparently served by only two off-street parking spaces,” the resident writes.
“While one conversion may appear relatively modest, repeated subdivision of substantial family homes could gradually increase residential density, parking demand and servicing pressures while reducing the availability of larger family houses.”
The resident sees the application as a test case. “Given the previous planning refusal and considerable local interest, this may be a useful case through which to examine how Redbridge balances the demand for additional housing with the protection of established residential neighbourhoods.”
Hermon Hill already has one contested housing scheme this autumn. Nine flats on the former pub at number 142 drew 124 objections before going to the Planning Committee in September.
What it means for you
- To comment, find 2239/26 on the council’s planning register before 18 October. The register asks you to log in to comment.
- Comments count when they are about planning: the loss of a family home, the location test in LP6, parking, space standards and the effect on neighbours. Who the applicant is does not.
- This one is likely to be decided by an officer, not councillors. Three homes is a minor residential scheme. Under the rules that take effect on 31 October, schemes of one to nine homes cannot go to the Planning Committee, and ward councillor call-ins stop working.
- If it is refused, the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. If it is approved, neighbours have no right of appeal.
We will report the decision. The borough’s other live schemes are on our Redbridge planning page.
Sources
- Redbridge Council planning register, application 2239/26: application form, cover letter of 1 September 2026, and design and access statement by Michael Swords Studio. Checked 8 October 2026.
- Redbridge Council planning register, application 3519/25: decision notice dated 23 February 2026.
- Letter to Ilford Today from a resident writing for Protect Hermon Hill, 8 October 2026.
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