The old boathouse at Highams Park Lake has now been demolished and the site made safe.
Given the proximity of the dam to the site the City of London Corporation ‘CoL’ have decided that a full reinstatement of the site to the Forest would be complicated. The existing footprint is a rare opportunity in the Forest, and the CoL are hopeful that they can host a facility which will be of benefit to locals and other Forest users very much in the spirit of the recreational ambitions of the Epping Forest Charity and the Epping Forest Act.
It is the CoL’s intention that the site be made available for community use and as of 13th March 2026 the site is being marketed on their behalf, as a competitive tender, by Claridges Commercial Property Consultants, as a lease and not sale, for buildings without formal foundations in pursuance of leisure activities, and not a café.
All expressions of interest must be communicated through:
Claridges Commercial Property Consultants
Connaught House, Broomhill Rd, Woodford, Woodford Green IG8 0XR
Phone: 020 7887 2338
Email: info@claridges-commercial.co.uk
Applicants will all be scored against a matrix of the following:
- 40% prospective rent
- 20% the applicants financial standing
- 20% applicants experience of comparable leisure use
- 10% planning potential – this will include links to the HPL neighbourhood plan
- 10% meeting the CoL’s objectives – sustainability, community benefit, sympathetic to the Forest
The term will be a maximum 15-year lease.
As you can appreciate, there is a need from a Forest perspective that this provision is not a cost for the Forest and that it provides revenue for the CoL’s wider recreational and conservation objectives. However, the ambition is that this creates a facility of benefit to local and all Forest users and is sympathetic to the area.
Details of how to view and the site and tender for use of the site are detailed below:
