Supply and Demand

All London boroughs have a serious shortage of housing and Westminster is no different.

Finding a home in Westminster is difficult, so many people turn to the Council for help. Unfortunately, we also have a serious shortage of homes to offer. In the whole of Westminster, only around 20% of the total housing stock is 'social housing'. That is, housing owned by the Council or housing associations for rent at low cost to people in housing need.

The massive gap between the supply of homes available and the demand for those homes means that we only offer properties to people in the greatest need. Even then, most people face a long wait before they have enough points and priority to get housed.

Numbers currently waiting

• Over 1700 homeless households.
• Over 1500 tenants waiting for a transfer.
• Over 800 in other priority groups.
• Over 4000 households in total!
  
  

Supply of permanent accommodation

• Between April 2010 and March 2011, we let 1,252 properties in total.
• This means we re-housed around one quarter of the households registered on the waiting list.
• Most people face a wait of several years for their permanent home.

Many applicants have told us that if they had realised how long the wait for permanent housing would be, they would have been more willing to consider other options when they first applied.

For more information about supply and demand, see our newsletter