Redbridge Sports & Leisure Centre is getting three covered padel courts, opening on Saturday 3 October 2026 in partnership with Padel United UK. It’s the first dedicated padel offer at the Barkingside site, and it lands in a part of east London that’s had surprisingly little padel coverage given how close it sits to the M11 and the North Circular.
At a glance
Address: Redbridge Sports & Leisure Centre, Forest Road, Barkingside, Essex IG6 3HD
Courts: 3, fully covered with a Lauralu canopy
Opening: Saturday 3 October 2026
Booking: Playtomic app
Membership: Existing RSL members can bolt on a dedicated Padel Membership for discounts of up to 50% on court bookings, coaching, and organised activities
Website: rslonline.co.uk
What’s confirmed, and what isn’t
Planning permission is granted and construction started in August 2026, giving the venue a tight but workable timeline to Saturday’s opening. The three courts will be fully covered, using canopy specialist Lauralu’s structure – the same approach a growing number of UK operators are taking to keep courts playable through the wetter months rather than losing bookings to weather. Lauralu has previously built covered courts directly for Padel United elsewhere in the country, so this isn’t a first-time pairing between operator and canopy supplier, and Redbridge going covered from day one rather than adding a roof later suggests both sides are planning for a full 12-month booking calendar rather than a seasonal add-on.
Bookings will run through Playtomic, which puts Redbridge on the same platform as most other London padel venues – useful if you already have a Playtomic account and just want to add a new court to your rotation. RSL’s own announcement frames the padel offer as a bolt-on for existing members rather than a standalone club: members get priority booking and discounted rates, while non-members will presumably book and pay per session, though RSL hasn’t published a pay-and-play price yet.
Wayne Alexander, RSL’s chief executive, said the leisure centre was “thrilled to collaborate with PDL Padel United, to introduce Padel Courts at Redbridge Sports Centre,” adding that the sport would “encourage people of all ages to stay active, connect with others, and enjoy the benefits of movement and fun.”
RSL and Padel United UK have both said membership pricing, pay-and-play rates, opening-day offers, and launch event details will follow “in the coming weeks” as construction progresses. Neither operator has published opening hours yet either. Worth checking the RSL website or the Playtomic listing directly before planning a first visit, since none of that detail was locked in as of publication.
What else is at the venue
RSL is a not-for-profit charity site with an existing racket-sports base worth knowing about if padel is your way in. Alongside the new courts, the Barkingside centre already runs squash courts, indoor and outdoor tennis, badminton, table tennis, a sports hall, a full gym and fitness studio, dance and exercise studios, and a bar and coffee shop. It doesn’t have its own swimming pool – the nearest is Fullwell Cross Leisure Centre, also in Barkingside – but for anyone building padel into a wider racket-sports habit, having squash and tennis courts on the same site as padel is a rarer combination than it should be. It also means the venue already has a built-in membership base of racket-sport regulars who may cross over into padel once the courts open, rather than needing to build an audience from nothing.
Why this matters for east London players
Redbridge borough has had padel for a while through Rocket Padel in Ilford, but a leisure-centre-based option changes the calculation for anyone who already has an RSL membership for squash, gym, or other sports – padel becomes an add-on rather than a separate subscription. It also adds a third viable option in the wider east London and west Essex corridor alongside Rocket Padel Ilford and the Powerleague courts in Romford, which sit a few miles further out on the same side of the city.
Redbridge borough’s transport links help here too. Barkingside sits on the Central line, and the M11 and North Circular are both close by, so the venue is a realistic option not just for local RSL members but for players further into Essex or north-east London who currently drive past the area to reach courts in Romford or further into the capital. Three courts is a modest opening size next to some of the bigger new-build venues landing elsewhere in London, but a leisure centre bolt-on doesn’t need the same footfall to justify itself that a standalone padel club does – RSL’s existing membership base does a lot of that work already.
For a broader picture of what else is bookable across the capital, our guide to padel courts in London covers venues zone by zone, including the other recent east London openings.
We’ll update this piece once RSL confirms pricing and opening hours.