Former Councillor David Taylor Calls For Scrutiny After Como Street Lending Plans Appear To Jump By More Than £32m.

9th September 20269th September 2026 Francesca Lilleystone 0 Comments David Taylor, Havering Council, Housing min read

Former Romford councillor David Taylor has called for the business case behind the proposed Como Street development to be publicly scrutinised after uncovering what he believes to appear to be a dramatic increase in the amount Havering Council expects to lend to its own development company.

Budget papers presented to Havering’s Overview and Scrutiny Board on 4 February showed planned loans of around £19.1 million to Mercury Land Holdings (MLH) for the Como Street scheme.

However, papers presented to Cabinet just two weeks later showed planned lending of £51.3 million, an apparent increase of more than £32 million.

Taylor, who chaired the Overview and Scrutiny Board when the earlier figures were presented, said the change demands a clear explanation.

He said:

“When this budget came before the scrutiny board that I chaired, councillors were shown around £19 million of proposed lending for Como Street.
“Two weeks later, the Cabinet papers showed more than £51 million.
“There may be an explanation for that change, but an increase of this scale should not simply pass without proper examination. We need to understand what has changed, why so much more lending is now proposed and whether the business case still represents a sensible investment for Havering taxpayers.”

MLH is wholly owned by Havering Council and relies on Council financing to deliver its development programme.

Individual MLH schemes are expected to have their own detailed business cases, viability assessments and funding decisions. However, these can be approved under delegated authority rather than automatically receiving wider examination by councillors.

Taylor has now written to the councillors representing the area asking them to support a call-in of the Como Street decision when the business case is published.

A call-in would temporarily prevent the decision from being implemented and allow councillors to publicly question officers, examine the financial assumptions and consider whether the decision should proceed or be reconsidered.

Taylor added:

“I spent years as a councillor trying to put MLH under greater scrutiny because too much of its work has been opaque. It is public money and residents deserve to know what is happening with it.
“We have called in MLH lending decisions before and that scrutiny matters. I am asking the current ward councillors to do the same for Como Street.”

Taylor also challenged councillors who have publicly objected to the proposed development to turn those objections into action.

“If councillors say they oppose the Como Street scheme, then their objections cannot exist in words alone.
“If they are serious, they should be prepared to scrutinise the business case and the lending that enables the development to happen.
“Otherwise, it risks becoming posturing without substance.”

Taylor stressed that he is not opposed in principle to redevelopment of the Como Street site, and has previously welcomed changes to the scheme secured through engagement with MLH.

He said:

“I am not arguing that Como Street should never be developed. I have always taken the view that we should engage with developers and push for the best possible scheme for local residents.
“But development has to be suitable, financially viable and the right thing for Havering taxpayers.
“Before the Council commits potentially more than £51 million in loans to this one scheme, councillors should be prepared to look closely at the numbers and ask whether the investment really stacks up.”

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