Despite its position at the heart of London, Westminster’s housing waiting list is well below its neighbouring boroughs and the regional average for Central London (11,321), with 4,336 households waiting. This is compared to Camden at7,423 households and, across the river, Lambeth where nearly 36,000 households are on the local authority waiting list. Overall, Westminster’s waiting list is the 22nd highest in London.
Westminster’s waiting times are similar to several other Inner London boroughs insofar as wait times are longer for larger properties. A one-bedroom property in Westminster has a waiting time of 509 days, which is the 19th lowest in London and lowest in Central London. Two-bedroom properties have average waiting times of 1,463 days, nearly tripling the wait time for a smaller one-bedroom property. This places Westminster as ninth highest for this property type in London and fifth highest in Central London.
Larger properties with three bedrooms in Westminster have a waiting time of 2,599 days, the third highest in London and highest for the Central London region. Homes with four or more bedrooms have higher waiting times at 2,984 days, or around eight years and two months. Compared to other Central London boroughs, Westminster is third highest in this property size with Southwark having a 3,803 day waiting time, or more than 10 years and five months.
The borough’s higher waiting times for larger properties can be reflected in its high population density – the seventh highest in London with 12,439 residents per square km. The borough also has a sizeable social housing stock and the 12th highest in London with 27,764 social homes, managed by both the local authority and private registered providers.
Westminster City Council operates a housing allocations policy with three bands representing household need and circumstances. The first band is designated for statutory homelessness main duty applicants, while the second band is specifically for existing tenants of the local authority. In the second band, reasonable preferences such as repairs decants, under-occupation and transfers are more likely. Westminster’s third band is the more general needs housing register for households not owed homelessness duty but who have housing needs and reflect one or more reasonable preference categories. This includes health and welfare risks, overcrowded or unsanitary accommodation, or for care leavers, foster carers and service personnel.
Sources:
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local Authority Housing Statistics data returns for 2022 to 2023
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Live tables on rents, lettings and tenancies; numbers of households on local authorities’ housing waiting lists, by district, England, from 1987
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Live tables on dwelling stock (including vacants); Dwelling stock by local authority and region, England, 2009-2023
- Office for National Statistics, Mid-Year Population Estimates, England and Wales, June 2023
- Greater London Authority, Land Area and Population Density, Ward and Borough data for 2023
- Sub-regions as defined by The London Plan
*A note on data sources. In order to provide comparisons of different local authorities total waiting lists, due to some boroughs not providing up to date information on the number of people on their social housing register we have used the most recent data (2022-23) published by MHCLG. Where boroughs provided us with more recent data, we have noted this.