The context for the Housing Review’s approach to housing supply is the council’s commitment to delivering a Fairer Westminster and in particular the pledge by the new administration to “make building new council, social, and lower rent homes the council’s top policy priority”.
Immediately after the Future of Westminster Commission was appointed, we initiated and supported a review of the Council’s own development programme. The aim was that it could better reflect the needs of the city by maximising the number of additional ‘truly affordable’ homes that could be produced with the resources available. This intensive review has been carried out with great diligence by the council’s officers and cabinet members.
Westminster’s programme has been reviewed carefully and pragmatically scheme by scheme to determine the best approach to each project within the available resources.
The cabinet report proposes the provision of an extra 133 family homes and 10 one-bedroom homes at social rents as a result of this exercise. This number will rise when the reviews of the major regeneration schemes at Ebury Bridge and Church Street are complete. This is a significant first step towards meeting the council’s intention to obtain as many extra homes for social rent as possible at the earliest time. Each home that is let as a result of this and future initiatives means a secure, stable, and affordable solution for a Westminster family in housing need, providing them with a foundation for a successful life in the city.
As the report shows, significant additional GLA support has been or is being secured. The GLA is also supporting an increased number of acquisitions from its right to buy back fund. This additional support is very welcome.
The report identifies the costs to the council of switching these homes to social rent. It is harder to identify the savings and benefits these homes will bring, but they are real. They will bring in rental income throughout their existence and add to the council’s assets; people moving into them from temporary accommodation or private renting will require less housing support; and there are wider societal benefits in terms of improvements to health and well-being and school performance.
In the current climate only a small amount of grant is normally available from the GLA within a tight London-wide budget compared with the costs of delivering each affordable home that a council or registered provider builds. To enable them to build new council homes, boroughs have to use other resources such as their Affordable Housing Fund or generate cross-subsidy from sales.
Even when land is scarce as in Westminster resources do not allow only council homes to be built. The report therefore recommends that in future new schemes in Westminster should achieve at least 50% ‘affordable’, with 70% of the affordable homes being social rent. This is a useful yardstick for the future but should be reviewed from time to time in light of experience and evidence from elsewhere.
Published: 7 December 2022