Westminster City Council – Homepage

Place

Westminster is a global city in the heart of the nation’s capital. The daytime population, including residents, employees, and visitors, can be up to 1 million, the highest of any London Borough.

At a glance

  • Westminster has over 200 parks and open spaces ranging from large multifunctional areas to small ornamental garden squares and pocket parks.    
  • The borough has a busy road network, and air quality is a health risk for all, particularly for children and those with underlying health conditions. Currently, our air quality monitoring sites do not meet World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for levels of particulate matter. Although not legally required to do so, the council has committed to working to meet WHO Guideline levels – find out more about how we are improving air quality
  • We estimate that approximately 31,000 households in Westminster on means-tested benefits are impacted heavily by the cost-of-living crisis. Local help can be found on the Cost of Living hub. 
Westminster has over 200 parks and open spaces
Almost 1 in 3 children lie in poverty - 1 in 4 households in London are at risk from the cost of living crisis
  • There are 26,810 social rented households, over half of which (14,392) are Housing Association properties. The remainder is Westminster Housing prop, parties including Queens Park, Mozart Estate (Queens Park), Lisson Green Estate (Church Street), Warwick Estate and Brindley Road Estate (Westbourne), Hallfield Estate (Bayswater) and Churchill Gardens (Pimlico South).   
  • The life expectancy for someone sleeping on the street is 30 to 40 years less than average. 2,100 people were seen rough sleeping in Westminster in 2023/24.  On a single night it is estimated 277 people are sleeping rough. Find out about our rough sleeping strategy. 
  • We have some of the best schools in London, but with a third of children living in poverty, there are significant disadvantages for families to overcome to ensure that children have the best start.  Find out how we are working to ensure our children and young people are healthy, safe and happy. 
  • Not having access to digital services contributes to health and wellbeing. For example, it can cause social isolation, economic exclusion, and the inability to reduce access to services and support. Find out about our support to help people get online.

Deprivation 

Residents' health is closely linked to deprivation. It can be harder to stay healthy if you are struggling financially and do not have a good job, education, or a safe place to live. 

There are significant financial differences within the borough. Knightsbridge and Belgravia have some of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the country, whilst Queen’s Park, Church Street and Westbourne have some of the most deprived. Specifically, areas like Queens Park and Mozart Estate (Queens Park), Lisson Green Estate (Church Street), Warwick Estate and Brindley Road Estate (Westbourne) have higher levels of deprivation.  

A lot is going on now, including the energy crisis, this crisis, and that crisis. How are we meant to focus on our health when there are all these other things going on? Poverty’s coming to hit a lot of us hard, and it's scary; more needs to be done to help us through this.

In 2023, Westminster's unemployment rate was 5%, similar to the London average. The average annual income in the most deprived wards is £27,000 (Church Street) compared to £56,000 in more affluent areas around Knightsbridge. Even within the same neighbourhood, rich and poor households live in close proximity.  One in four homes in London are at risk from the cost of living crisis.  Local help can be found on the Cost of Living hub. 

Find out about our Westminster Employment Service.

Life expectancy

Westminster's life expectancy is among the highest in the country. The average man lives to 80 years and the average woman to 85 years.  However, there are big differences in life expectancy across the borough. 

Westminster has the highest life expectancy gap in the country for males. The gap for females sees us in line with the national average but is the third highest in London.  In Knightsbridge and Belgravia ward, a man is expected to live 18 years longer than a man in the Westbourne ward.  A woman is expected to live 9 years longer in Knightsbridge and Belgravia than in Westbourne.  

The gap is driven by very high life expectancy in some areas of the borough: life expectancy is similar to or above the national average in all wards apart from Westbourne. 

The top causes of death are similar in both the most and least deprived areas, but there are more deaths at younger ages in the deprived areas. Circulatory causes (including stroke and heart disease) account for 20% of the difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas (20% for women and 19% for men). Lung cancer accounts for 9% of the difference for men and other cancers for a further 17%. For women, cancer accounts for 15% of the difference. 

References

Our JSNA brings together data and insight from a range of sources.  Below are some of the key sources of data used for this section.   

Data used in this section was collated in February 2024.   

If you require any further information on specific references, please contact us at [email protected].