Thousands of residents on Westminster City Council estates will benefit from support and advice much closer to home under a new borough-wide scheme to reopen housing centres announced on Monday 5 June.
The first of four new Housing Service Centres was officially opened on Monday, enabling residents to drop in and speak face-to-face with the housing team about a range of issues including repairs and maintenance, or to seek advice if they need support with paying their bills.
The facility on the Mozart Estate, Bruckner Street, in Queen’s Park was officially opened by Council Leader Adam Hug and Councillor Liza Begum, Cabinet Member of Housing Services. In the initial rollout, three further facilities in Pimlico, Bayswater and Soho will be opened in the coming months ensuring residents across the borough benefit.
Through the initiative the council is making it easier for local tenants and leaseholders to work with the housing team by bringing their housing officer closer to them and by doing so they are fulfilling a pledge made following the change of administration in 2022. The council is hiring more housing officers and with a smaller patch to cover and as a result the teams can be more visible and active on the estate.
The council’s Fairer Westminster Delivery Plan commits to giving tenants better face-to-face contact with housing staff by increasing the locations officers can work from across the city.
Residents have told the council that the facilities and the one-to-one interaction with dedicated housing officer was a valuable resource that they wanted to be restored.
Cllr Hug said:
The council is committed to improving its housing services so that problems are dealt with quickly and efficiently. Over the past year, we’ve been listening to residents’ concerns and making changes to our services and Bruckner Street is just one way of bringing our housing officers closer to the residents they are here to support.”
Cllr Begum said:
“The council plans to open more local offices like this one, to make it easier for residents to speak face-to-face with our housing staff so that we are making it easier for residents to discuss any queries or concerns.”
The council has introduced Community Thursdays, where council housing teams visit residents on their doorsteps to talk about issues that matter to them, and provide help with issues specific to their home, block, or estate. Westminster will also be holding more local surgeries, hiring more housing officers, and making it quicker and easier to contact the call centre. In addition, the council has introduced a tenants’ panel so that residents can express their opinions on the projects we undertake and decisions we make.
Published: 6 June 2023