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In this edition of the magazine, I’m excited to tell you about our plans to deliver 1,362 truly affordable homes for our residents, a housing offer that puts you first.
We’ve been reviewing how many affordable homes are on offer in our new housing developments that are in progress – as part of our efforts to increase the availability of these homes and reduce housing waiting list times.
Listening to our residents is also another key priority for us, so I’m pleased to see how successful the Community Thursday walkabouts have been, and to add to this we will be also hosting housing surgeries in the south of the borough so you can tell us about any issues you have in your home. We’ve also launched our cost-of-living support hub to help families who are struggling at this time to get the help and support they need.
Championed the Community Thursday walkabouts, where we’ve visited 1,900 of our homes, to find out what issues residents are facing.
Immediately paused the council’s programme to sell off council homes on the open market and commissioned an urgent review into the policy.
Temporarily stopped the policy of moving homeless households into the private rented sector without their agreement.
Created a dedicated role in the council to tackle empty homes in Westminster.
We’ve found that around a quarter of households in Westminster face a serious reduction in living standards due to rising costs, such as fuel, energy bills and food.
To help residents, we’ve launched our cost of living web hub, targeting an initial £5.5m package of support to help families that are struggling, working with our partners to ensure that we maximise our impact, and ensuring our residents have the information they need to access support available. To find out more visit our website at: westminster.gov.uk/cost-of-living-support
If you’re a Westminster resident and in need of affordable broadband, several tariff providers such as BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media have a range of great broadband plans to fit your budget.
BT, for example, is offering broadband connections for as low as £15 a month, or a calls-only plan for just £10 a month. Check if you are eligible now at: westminster.gov.uk/financial-support
In October, we announced that we are going to be delivering at least 1,362 council homes for social rent to support local people to live in truly affordable homes in Westminster. The pledge will see an increase of at least 160 new council homes for social rent in addition to the 1,202 council homes already in the council’s housebuilding pipeline. This increase will help families who are on the council housing waiting list – which is currently more than 4,000 households – and will begin to reduce the numbers of families relying on temporary accommodation. We are also taking re-ownership of 84 homes, which will become council houses, that were previously planned for private sale on 300 Harrow Road and Westmead in Westbourne Park. Hear from Asaelle, a 16-year-old resident who is returning to Ebury:
My name is Asaelle and I have lived in Doneraile House from the moment I took my first breath. I made close friendships, watched the community grow and I’ve loved every memory created. When I first heard Ebury estate was getting knocked down I felt like a piece of my childhood was getting taken away from me, however, seeing the new plans and developments allowed me to see the brighter side of things. I was excited and couldn’t wait for this project to finally begin. Moving from Ebury felt peculiar and I knew the ambience and atmosphere was going to be completely different. I was right. I created a mental countdown and wanted everything to be done in a blink of an eye. Each day I would ask myself when we would return and my impatience grew as I read every newsletter we would receive. I analysed every plan that was put forward and imagined myself in this new environment we would be entering in a few years. The moment we stepped out at the gathering for returning residents, I could not contain my excitement as the new build plans brought optimism into my mind. I know I’ll love the new Ebury and so will its new residents. New beginnings bring new blessings.
In early 2022, the housing department carried out a staffing restructure that provided more frontline officers, and a promise to residents to provide a more visible presence on our estates with our new initiative ‘Community Thursdays’.
Community Thursdays launched in June and is an opportunity for teams across the housing department, at all levels, talk to residents about issues that matter to them. Local councillors are invited to join us, so that we can collectively work together on wider issues, as well as give advice, and help on specific issues in residents’ homes.
For Community Thursdays we head out to visit our estates, and check in with our residents at their homes where we encourage any issues or questions to be raised so that we can deal with it there and then. If the matter is more complex, we will log the issue or query so that this can be resolved by the relevant team.
We have a schedule of visits planned over the coming weeks and will be visiting estates on a rotational basis every four months. We hope that residents will receive help from face-to-face conversations with staff on their doorstep.
Some of the highlights to date are:
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Over 18 Community Thursdays held Æ
Over 68 estates visited across 17 wards
Over 183 different members of staff have taken part so far Æ 12 different councillors have joined us on our walks around the community
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Over 5,000 doors knocked
To find out when we will be visiting your estate, check out our dedicated Community Thursday webpage at: westminster.gov.uk/community-thursdays
In the south of the city, we are currently running two resident surgeries a week.
This is an opportunity to come along to your housing estate office and speak to us about any issues you may have. We will be at Lillington and Longmore estate office every Tuesday from 9am to 12pm and Soho and Covent Garden estate office every Wednesday from 9am to 12pm.
In Westminster we want to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) head on, across the city, whether it happens on our streets, in our housing estates or at our local businesses.
That is why we have worked together with partners, victims, businesses, and residents to create an ASB Strategy. This gives you details on: finding out about causes of ASB and helping to prevent them supporting the victims
bringing those who commit ASB to justice shaping the way we tackle ASB
You can read the full strategy by visiting our website at: www.westminster.gov.uk/anti-social-behaviour
Once you have read the strategy, you can then share your views with us by visiting: smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ASB-strategy-survey
Your thoughts and suggestions will then be used to finalise the strategy.
We know that Anti-Social Behaviour can be difficult to experience, however there are multiple ways you can report it and receive help.
Find out how you can report Anti-Social Behaviour in Westminster by visiting our website at: westminster.gov.uk/report-it
Anti-Social Behaviour is when someone acts in a way that worries, upsets or frightens people.
It can make people scared to go out, or afraid when they are in their own home. Examples of ASB may include damaging or vandalising property, littering, being noisy and threatening, bullying or abusing others.
A newly launched programme is supporting survivors of domestic abuse into sustainable employment.
In partnership with our repairs and maintenance contractor, Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS), we have launched The Phoenix Programme, to support survivors of domestic abuse into sustainable employment. The programme will support female survivors of domestic abuse within the Westminster area to rebuild confidence and develop the skills to enter or re-enter the workplace. Those who enrol will be given an assessment to find out what they hope to achieve from the programme, followed by support with digital skills, CV preparation, mentoring, skills for work, work experience, interview preparation and managing finances.
There will also be guaranteed interviews for roles within the business and with supply chain providers.
We have also partnered with Smart Works, a UK charity that dresses and coaches unemployed women for success at their job interview. Smart Works will provide a bespoke dressing consultation to find an interview outfit that will provide women with confidence ahead of their interview.
If you would like to find out more about how the programme works, you can visit our website at: westminster.gov.uk/phoenix-programme
If you would like to know more about the referral process, please get in contact with CSRbox@morgansindall.com
All information will be dealt with in strictest confidence.
Domestic abuse is defined as, “Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.”
If you are, or someone you know is, suffering from domestic abuse then it is important you report it as soon as possible. For help, visit: westminster.gov.uk/ housing/leaseholders/support-services/domestic-abuse
More than 660 tonnes of food waste has been collected and diverted from landfill since the service rolled out in March. Residents living in our estates have been recycling food waste in the communal food waste bins and contributing to a cleaner city. You can recycle anything from eggshells to rice, fruit and vegetables, to tea bags and coffee beans – we just ask that you do not put any liquids (including oil), plastic, packaging or garden waste in your food waste bin. So far, the service is available in 25 estates, and we are expanding across the city over the next 12 months. In the next few months, the food waste service will be introduced to Vincent Square, Pimlico North and Pimlico South wards. To be notified when the service reaches your ward you can sign up for updates via the website at: westminster.gov.uk/food-waste-recycling-expansion
This winter it’s very important for people at risk to get their free flu vaccine and COVID-19 booster. Having the vaccines is the safest and most effective way to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the harmful effects of the viruses this winter. The best time to get vaccinated against flu is in the autumn, before the cold temperatures start. Find out more at: westminster.gov.uk/vaccinations
The COVID-19 autumn booster vaccine will be available for people aged 50 or over or at higher risk to extend their protection against getting seriously ill from COVID-19. They will be contacted by their GP to book an appointment. School-aged children will be offered the flu vaccine at school.
Contact us 0800 358 3783 housing.enquiries@westminster.gov.uk
Write to us
Westminster Housing, Westminster City Hall, 12th Floor, 64 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QP
Tweet us
Report housing or repair issues via Twitter @wcchousing
Please note we have stopped our drop-in surgeries and are operating our service centres by appointment only until further notice.
We are updating you in many ways to ensure that no one feels left out. We have been reaching out by post, email and text. We are also carrying out telephone calls to those who are the most vulnerable. Please let us know if your contact details have changed recently.
Our website is updated daily with detailed advice and the very latest information about coronavirus (COVID-19) including what you can do to protect yourself, and the impact of the disease on our services. We urge all residents to sign up for regular email updates at westminster.gov.uk/coronavirus