Our plan to tackle social housing and homelessness in the City of Westminster

Two big regeneration schemes – Ebury Bridge and Church Street – were subject to detailed review and by holding resident ballots (which the previous administration had refused to do), tens of millions of additional Greater London Authority (GLA) grant was obtained.

Across the programme, more than 300 extra social rented homes were added and more than £60m additional GLA funding was obtained. The council is now on course to build more than 1,000 social rent homes during its term and 225 homes for key worker intermediate rent.

“The review has been realistic about what can be achieved by the council in its first term with the resources and powers available to it”

No stone has been left unturned in the quest to produce more homes for social rent. For example, the council has embarked on a partial review of the city plan to achieve more through planning gain, raising the requirement for social rented homes and strengthening the approach to achieving affordable homes within development sites rather than accepting payments in lieu.

A new ‘compact’ with registered providers has also been proposed to encourage greater activity in the city. The council’s offer on intermediate housing has also been reviewed to make it much more focused on key workers earning less than £60,000 a year.

Homelessness is a critical issue in Westminster: the council inherited 2,800 households in temporary accommodation (TA) and an escalating number of rough sleepers. Housing market failure means that homelessness is likely to continue to increase outside the council’s control. 

The council is determined to bring families in temporary housing back closer to Westminster – less than half of TA is in the city. It has allocated a huge £170m budget from general fund capital to a programme of acquisitions and is making better use of the GLA’s ‘right to buy back’ scheme. 

It will also improve the package of support offered to households in TA and invest in homelessness prevention services. It will review the rough sleeping strategy by the end of the year, working closely with other statutory services and the hugely committed voluntary sector.

The review launched a new city-wide residents’ panel to help it evaluate services to tenants and leaseholders. The council is soon to open a new housing office in the most deprived area of the borough, north Paddington, and plans are in place to re-open other estate offices and advice surgeries. 

“Westminster is a city of extremes, with some of the richest and some of the poorest places in the country cheek by jowl”

The number of housing officers has been increased significantly and there are plans in place to improve service responsiveness generally. The call centre is now taking 250,000 calls a year and is critically important to the quality of the service. 

Work has also started on a new repairs charter and a charter for leaseholders. The council is doing innovative work on damp and mould, but the response must be commensurate with the scale of the problem.

The review has been realistic about what can be achieved by the council in its first term with the resources and powers available to it.

Westminster is a city of extremes, with some of the richest and some of the poorest places in the country cheek by jowl. Insecurity and the lack of housing affordability is at its most extreme and the council’s focus on protecting the existing stock of affordable homes and increasing the new supply of homes for social rent can only ameliorate the problem.

The review emphasises the critical importance of taking every opportunity to provide social rented homes because each and every home offers a low-income household the chance of a decent life in the city.

If only the government would do its bit.

Steve Hilditch, chair, Westminster Housing Review; and founder, Red Brick Blog