Tenant satisfaction falls as Westminster Labour prioritises pet projects and waste
At tonight's Full Council meeting, Cllr Ralu Oteh-Osoka (Conservative) questioned Westminster’s Labour administration on why tenant satisfaction with council housing repairs remains just 63%, placing Westminster mid-table across London despite repeated internal restructures.
When challenged, Labour’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Liza Begum, conceded she had not compared Westminster’s performance with other boroughs such as Hackney or Waltham Forest, where satisfaction levels are significantly higher.
Watch Cllr Oteh-Osoka hold Labour to account and read the transcript below.
Cllr Ralu Oteh-Osoka (Conservative):
Why does tenant satisfaction in Westminster’s housing estates regarding repairs and repair times remain at just 63%, leaving Westminster mid-table across London despite several rounds of organisational change?
Cllr Liza Begum (Labour, Cabinet Member for Housing):
I’m actually quite surprised by that question, because our repairs performance has consistently improved over recent years. Our emergency repairs now have a 95% satisfaction rate. I absolutely acknowledge that some residents still experience issues, but we’ve worked very hard to improve the service. We currently have the lowest number of outstanding repair jobs we’ve ever recorded—just over 2,000.
Cllr Ralu Oteh-Osoka (Conservative):
How does the Cabinet Member explain that other boroughs, which face similar pressures but operate more traditional outsourced repair contracts—such as Waltham Forest, Kingston upon Thames, Hackney, and even inner-city comparators like Manchester—show significantly higher tenant satisfaction than Westminster?
Cllr Liza Begum (Labour, Cabinet Member for Housing):
I haven’t personally done recent benchmarking with those councils. When we last reported to the Regulator of Social Housing, we achieved a C1 rating. One of the things the regulator praised was our future plans for improving repairs. I have been working with the contractors I inherited from the previous administration and believe we now have much stronger oversight and management. I’m particularly excited about the introduction of our new Strategic Alliance model, which will give us even more accountability, collaboration, and control over how repairs are delivered.
This is the Same Old Labour story in Westminster: weak accountability, poor oversight and transparency in Labour’s housing management nowhere to be found.
The Labour Cabinet Member pointed to plans for yet another new “Strategic Alliance model.” Labour's prefers delivering headlines instead of results for residents.
Westminster Conservatives will continue to hold Labour led Westminster to account for value for money, higher quality repairs, and real accountability.
Tenants deserve better than all talk, no action and poor service from the council they fund.
