The car park is always packed up and this space is full normally
Thirty parking spaces on Old Dover Road, a short walk from the shops at Blackheath Standard, left public ownership on Thursday. They sold at an online auction for £1,155,000 — more than double the £500,000 guide price Greenwich Council's auctioneers had put on them. The buyer has not been named, and nothing has been said about whether the site will go on operating as a car park.
It had been a slow route to the rostrum. The car park was first listed for sale last December and pulled from that auction, reportedly over a problem with the electric vehicle chargers installed on the land, before being relisted for the September sale.
It is one of three car parks Greenwich put up for auction as part of a disposal of sites it describes as underused, alongside Abery Street and Charlton Village. Announcing the programme, the cabinet member responsible, Cllr Majid Rahman, said the parking income data showed the car parks were poorly used and that "keeping poorly performing car parks for the sake of it isn't something we can continue to justify". The sales sit inside a £43.4m savings package this year, with a further £45m gap forecast for next.
The traders on Old Dover Road do not recognise the description. Gino Gashi, who owns Caffe Moca on the road, said before the sale that "the car park is always packed up and this space is full normally", and that customers rely on the spaces to reach the shops. Cllr Matt Hartley, the Conservative group leader, who had asked for an economic impact assessment on small businesses before any sale went ahead, called it "one of the shortest-sighted decisions we have yet seen".
There is already a guide to what these sales can become. The 18-space council car park in Charlton Village, sold through the same programme in December 2025 for £410,000, is now the subject of an application by Oakmere Estates for a three-storey block of six flats. Nothing has been lodged for Old Dover Road so far.
The rest of Thursday's lots went the same way — three former tram shelters in Eltham and the old public toilets on Rodmere Street in Greenwich all sold above guide — which suggests Greenwich's surplus estate is worth considerably more than the council thought it was. That is the uncomfortable part of a good result. Nobody pays £1,155,000 for land they intend to keep as 30 parking bays, and the council attached no condition to the spaces when it sold them. The question for the autumn is whether a planning application arrives for Old Dover Road, and whether anyone at Greenwich ever worked out what the loss of the car park does to the shops it serves before deciding the price was right.
- 30-space car park on Old Dover Road, Blackheath (SE3 7BT) sold for £1,155,000 at online Strettons auction on 10 September 2026
- Sale price was more than double the £500,000 guide price
- Buyer's identity has not been disclosed
- Part of a three-site council disposal programme also covering Abery Street and Charlton Village car parks
- Sales sit within a £43.4m council savings package this year, with a further £45m budget gap forecast next year
- Local trader Gino Gashi of Caffe Moca disputed the council's 'poorly used' characterisation before the sale
- A comparable Charlton Village car park sold in December 2025 for £410,000 is now subject of a planning application for six flats
- No planning application has yet been filed for the Old Dover Road site
Every factual claim in this story is linked to the evidence behind it. Where the newsroom has added judgement or framing, it is listed separately. Sources accessed 11 September 2026.
- Old Dover Road car park sold, plus Eltham tram shelters (media)
- Strettons auction listing: Old Dover Road car park (business)
- Underused car park sites go to auction to bring in income (council)
- Businesses to be hit by council's car park sale (community)
- Charlton Village car park sale leads to flats plan (media)
- Blackheath car park up for sale again (media)
Claim by claim (11 facts, 10 editorial judgements)
- The 30-space car park on Old Dover Road, Blackheath sold for £1,155,000 at an online Strettons auction on 10 September 2026 — media, 2026-09-10“The car park, on Old Dover Road, sold for £1,155,000 at the online auction”
- The sale price was more than double the £500,000 guide price — business, 2026-09-10“guide price £500,000”
- The buyer's identity is not known — media, 2026-09-10“The identity of the buyer is not known.”
- The car park was previously withdrawn from an earlier auction over an issue with electric vehicle chargers installed on the site — media, 2026-08-29“It had originally been listed for sale in December, but was withdrawn because of an issue with the electric chargers installed in the car park.”
- The sale is part of a three-car-park disposal programme (Abery Street, Charlton Village, Old Dover Road) approved by Greenwich Council — council, 2025-10-01“Three car parks are being auctioned... Abery Street, Charlton Village, Old Dover Road... Auction Date: 11 December 2025.”
- Cllr Majid Rahman said the car parks are poorly used and cannot be justified for the sake of it — direct_statement, 2025-10-01“We can see from the parking income data that these car parks are poorly used. Keeping poorly performing car parks for the sake of it isn't something we can continue to justify.”
- The disposals sit within a £43.4m savings package this year, with a further £45m budget gap forecast next year driven by social care costs — council, 2025-10-01“£43.4m savings... £45m budget gap”
- Gino Gashi of Caffe Moca said the car park is always full and customers rely on it — direct_statement, 2026-09-01“The car park is always packed up and this space is full normally”
- Cllr Matt Hartley called the sale one of the shortest-sighted decisions yet seen and had sought an economic impact assessment first — direct_statement, 2026-09-01“one of the shortest-sighted decisions we have yet seen”
- An 18-space Charlton Village council car park sold in December 2025 for £410,000 is now subject of a planning application for six flats — media, 2026-09-11“sold in December 2025 for £410,000... planning application by Oakmere Estates for a three-storey block of six flats”
- The same auction also sold three former Eltham tram shelters and the former public toilets on Rodmere Street, Greenwich, above guide price — media, 2026-09-10“three former tram shelters... former public toilets on Rodmere Street... sold above guide price”
- Judgement: No planning application has yet been filed for the Old Dover Road site
- Judgement: Framing the sale as thirty spaces 'leaving public ownership' and the price paid saying more about the site's future than anything the council has published.
- Judgement: 'It had been a slow route to the rostrum' as a characterisation of the withdrawn and relisted auction history.
- Judgement: 'The traders on Old Dover Road do not recognise the description' as a characterisation of the gap between the council's account and Gino Gashi's.
- Judgement: 'There is already a guide to what these sales can become' framing Charlton Village as a precedent for Old Dover Road.
- Judgement: 'which suggests Greenwich's surplus estate is worth considerably more than the council thought it was' as inference from lots selling above guide.
- Judgement: 'That is the uncomfortable part of a good result.'
- Judgement: 'Nobody pays £1,155,000 for land they intend to keep as 30 parking bays' as the paper's judgement on the price.
- Judgement: 'the council attached no condition to the spaces when it sold them' — inferred from the absence of any published condition.
- Judgement: The closing question about whether the effect on the shops was assessed before the sale.