Third Supplementary Memorandum by CityWest
Homes
I refer to your letter of 23 January 2007, requesting
further information to support the City Council's evidence to
the inquiry into the supply of rented housing. Please find below
information to answer each of your questions.
The number and proportion of households in temporary
accommodation being housed outside Westminster, broken down by
London borough or region if outside London.
The table below shows the number of households
in TA at the end of each financial year from 2002-03, and the
first three quarters of the current financial year. The data for
the previous years is unavailable.
HOUSEHOLDS IN TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION
|
| | At 31/3/03
| At 31/3/04
| At 31/3/05
| At 31/3/06
| 31/12/06
|
| Number
| % | Number
| % | Number
| % | Number
| % | Number
| % |
|
| Westminster | 1,681
| 62.7% | 1,905
| 64.7% | 2,036
| 66.5% | 2,192 |
70.6% | 2,281 | 74.0%
|
| Barking & Dagenham | 172
| 6.4% | 188
| 6.4% | 182
| 5.9% | 204 | 6.6%
| 150 | 4.9% |
| Barnet | 11 |
0.4% | 26
| 0.9% | 16
| 0.5% | 15 | 0.5%
| 17 | 0.6% |
| Bexley | | 0.0%
| 1 | 0.0%
| 1 | 0.0% |
| 0.0% | | 0.0%
|
| Brent | 150 |
5.6% | 99
| 3.4% | 84
| 2.7% | 32 | 1.0%
| 12 | 0.4% |
| Camden | 165
| 6.2% | 161
| 5.5% | 164
| 5.4% | 93 | 3.0%
| 12 | 0.4% |
| Ealing | 24 |
0.9% | 15
| 0.5% | 5
| 0.2% | 6 | 0.2%
| 3 | 0.1% |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | 10
| 0.4% | 4
| 0.1% | 3
| 0.1% | 3 | 0.1%
| 1 | 0.0% |
| Hackney | 46
| 1.7% | 55
| 1.9% | 55
| 1.8% | 45 | 1.4%
| 61 | 2.0% |
| Havering | 10
| 0.4% | 10
| 0.3% | 16
| 0.5% | 13 | 0.4%
| 12 | 0.4% |
| Hillingdon | 13
| 0.5% | |
0.0% | | 0.0%
| | 0.0% | |
0.0% |
| Hounslow | 11
| 0.4% | 3
| 0.1% | 1
| 0.0% | | 0.0%
| | 0.0% |
| Islington | 54
| 2.0% | 29
| 1.0% | 31
| 1.0% | 28 | 0.9%
| 20 | 0.6% |
| Kensington & Chelsea | 37
| 1.4% | 19
| 0.6% | 3
| 0.1% | 10 | 0.3%
| 1 | 0.0% |
| Lambeth | 6 |
0.2% | | 0.0%
| | 0.0% | |
0.0% | 2 | 0.1% |
| Newham | 154
| 5.7% | 231
| 7.8% | 250
| 8.2% | 262 | 8.4%
| 296 | 9.6% |
| Redbridge | 41
| 1.5% | 48
| 1.6% | 52
| 1.7% | 43 | 1.4%
| 53 | 1.7% |
| Southwark | 8
| 0.3% | 6
| 0.2% | 6
| 0.2% | 2 | 0.1%
| | 0.0% |
| Tower Hamlets | 32
| 1.2% | 32
| 1.1% | 35
| 1.1% | 22 | 0.7%
| 29 | 0.9% |
| Waltham Forest | 35
| 1.3% | 94
| 3.2% | 110
| 3.6% | 123 | 4.0%
| 121 | 3.9% |
| Wandsworth | 6
| 0.2% | 4
| 0.1% | 3
| 0.1% | 2 | 0.1%
| | 0.0% |
| Total other London | 985
| 36.8% | 1,025
| 34.8% | 1,017
| 33.2% | 903 |
29.1% | 790 | 25.6%
|
| Birmingham | 3
| 0.1% | 5
| 0.2% | 3
| 0.1% | | 0.0%
| | 0.0% |
| Essex | 6 |
0.2% | 6
| 0.2% | 5
| 0.2% | 11 | 0.4%
| 12 | 0.4% |
| Kent | | 0.0%
| | 0.0% |
| 0.0% | | 0.0%
| 1 | 0.0% |
| Leicester | 5
| 0.2% | 3
| 0.1% | 2
| 0.1% | | 0.0%
| | 0.0% |
| Total outside London | 14
| 0.5% | 14
| 0.5% | 10
| 0.3% | 11 |
0.4% | 13 | 0.4%
|
| Total | 2,680
| 100.0% | 2,944
| 100.0% | 3,063
| 100.0% | 3,106 | 100.0%
| 3,084 | 100.0% |
|
How many new shared equity and social rented houses have been
built in your area?
The following table shows new dwellings completed by Registered
Social Landlords (RSLs) in Westminster during each of the past
five years (2001-06) and anticipated over the next three years
(2006-09). Of the 1,024 social rented units competed to 2006,
750 are described as "new-build". The remaining 274
units include: acquisitions of properties previously held in the
private sector; property disposals by the council to RSLs; and
works to existing RSL properties delivering units to which the
council now has nomination rights but where the net effect the
work may have been to reduce the overall number of social rented
homes. All shared ownership dwellings are new properties.
These completions will have been the product of investment
decisions primarily taken by the Housing Corporation and Westminster
using Local Authority Social Housing Grant (LASHG) perhaps two
or three years prior to the delivery of the individual schemes.
The demise of LASHG has significantly reduced the City Council's
ability to meet additional needs not met through the Housing Corporation's
mainstream investment programme, particularly the delivery of
family sized accommodation as part of a Purchase and Repair programme.
Completion figures for 2004-05 and 2005-06 contain a high
number of special needs schemes (112 units), where the client
group was nominated primarily via Social Services. This represents
an additional obligation, beyond providing affordable homes to
meet general housing needs.
The anticipated number of completions due from 2006-07 to
2008-09 fall off significantly in comparison to previous years.
These completions in the main relate to Housing Corporation investment
decisions made over the period 2004-05 and 2005-06.
|
| Year | New social rented
homes (general and
special needs)
| New shared
ownership homes
|
|
| 2001-02 | 242
| 77 |
| 2002-03 | 172
| 66 |
| 2003-04 | 140
| 26 |
| 2004-05 | 170
| 18 |
| 2005-06 | 300
| 44 |
| Total 2001-06 | 1,024
| 231 |
| 2006-07 | 37
| 4 |
| 2007-08 | 108
| 21 |
| 2008-09 | 88
| 5 |
|
The number of homes allocated to households from within your
borough; and to households from other parts of the North London
Sub-region.
The table below shows lettings to households from within
Westminster, and to households from elsewhere. Lettings include
those to council properties and to those RSL properties to which
the council has nomination rights. Our systems currently do not
allow for a further breakdown of the "households from outside
Westminster" figure, so we are unable to show the allocations
to households from within the North London sub-region.
|
| Year | Lettings to
Westminster
households
| Lettings to
households from
outside Westminster
| Total
Allocations
|
|
| 2001-02 | 1,291
| 8 | 1,299
|
| 2002-03 | 1,084
| 8 | 1,092
|
| 2003-04 | 1,169
| 5 | 1,174
|
| 2004-05 | 1,168
| 2 | 1,170
|
| 2005-06 | 1,301
| 2 | 1,303
|
| Total | 6,013
| 25 | 6,038
|
|
The number and proportion of internal and external allocations
made to newly-built houses.
It should be noted that schemes are often completed toward
the end of a financial year and therefore not available for letting
until the following financial year. Completion and allocation
data are notoriously difficult to reconcile. On average, the city
council receives nomination rights to approximately 80% of new
RSL units. The remaining 20% are available for the RSL's own purposes,
and may be let to households from within Westminster or elsewhere.
The council does not retain allocations information for RSLs,
so we are unable to say to whom all social rented dwellings in
Westminster are let.
The table below shows council nominations to new RSL properties
for each of the past five years.
|
| Year | WCC lettings to
new RSL units
|
|
| 2001-02 | 314
|
| 2002-03 | 252
|
| 2003-04 | 184
|
| 2004-05 | 192
|
| 2005-06 | 269
|
| Total | 1,211
|
|
How many council properties have been sold to tenants under
the right-to-buy?
|
| Year | Right to Buy
sales to tenants
|
|
| 2001-02 | 189
|
| 2002-03 | 200
|
| 2003-04 | 267
|
| 2004-05 | 145
|
| 2005-06 | 40
|
| Total | 841
|
|
Of those above, how many have subsequently entered the private
rented sector (whether directly or through buy-to-let); and how
many are then being rented by the Council?
Unfortunately, our systems do not allow us to determine which
of those properties sold in the past 5 years have subsequently
made their way into the private rented sector. We are, however,
able to provide information about the overall portfolio of former
council properties.
We currently have 9,224 lessees who will have purchased their
property directly from the council under Right to Buy, or on the
open market. Of those, 2,740 have registered a sub-lease with
us and we have identified a further 259 possible sub-lets. From
this we can assume that 2,999 (32.5%) of the properties that have
been sold under the Right to Buy are now in the private rented
sector. Of those, 1,040 are currently rented back to the Council.
An indication of the amount of Housing Benefit paid through
Westminster to the private sector and to social rented sector.
The following table shows Housing Benefit expenditure for
each of the past four financial years, plus the projection for
the current year. We are able to separate out expenditure on council
rented dwellings, however RSL rented dwellings are included within
the overall private sector.
HOUSING BENEFIT EXPENDITURE (£'000)
|
| Tenure | 2002-03
| 2003-04 | 2004-05
| 2005-06 | 2006-07
(proj)
|
|
| Council rented | 33,900
| 33,800 | 36,500
| 37,100 | 38,000
|
| Private Sector | 64,600
| 60,300 | 72,600
| 77,800 | 87,000
|
| Temp. Accommodation | 36,300
| 45,900 | 51,500
| 59,000 | 59,400
|
| Total | 134,800
| 140,000 | 160,600
| 173,900 | 184,400
|
|
You also asked for confirmation of our affordable housing
policies: which areas are covered by the 50 per cent and 30 per
cent requirements; and the split between social rented and shared
ownership. The table below summarises the policy requirements.
SUMMARY OF WESTMINSTER'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING POLICY
|
| Percentage of Affordable Housing Required
|
| Inside CAZ,
| Outside CAZ and CAZ Frontages and PSPA
|
No of Additional Residential
Units Proposed
| CAZ Frontages and PSPA
| 1. RSL Schemes |
2. Low existing use value
| 3. Other sites (not covered by 1 and 2)
|
|
| 0-9 | 0
| 100%* | 0
| 0 |
| 10-24 | Stepped to 30%
| 100%* | Stepped to 50%
| Stepped to 30% |
| 25-39 | 30%
| 100%* | 50%
| 30% |
| 40-79 | 30%
| 100%* | 50%
| Stepped to 50% |
| 80+ | 30% |
100%* | 50%
| 50% |
|
* except where a proportion of the units are "market
housing" needed to subsidise the affordable housing.
CAZ—Central Activities Zone.
PSPA—Paddington Special Policy Area.
On sites requiring 30% affordable housing, 25% will be for
social housing and 5% for intermediate housing.
On sites requiring 50%, the proportions up to 30% will be
as above, and the breakdown of the remaining 20% will be determined
on a site by site basis, depending on local housing need.
Further information about the council's planning policies
can be found in the Unitary Development Plan, adopted by Full
Council on 24th January 2007 and available at the following link:
http://www.westminster.gov.uk/udp/.
|
