Conservative led Westminster City Council will insist going forward that six in every ten new affordable homes built in the City are suitable for middle-income families. The policy will apply to the ambitious 1495 new homes the Council has committed to building.
Conservative Councillor and Cabinet Member for Planning and Public Realm Cllr Richard Beddoe said on the new policy:
“Those of us that are lucky enough to live in Westminster know how fantastic a place it is to live. As a Council, we’re determined to create homes that allow average earners and middle-income families to move to and in some cases remain in our City.
“We need developers to do their bit and provide homes for the working families who keep our city moving. We will challenge them to do so. Providing social housing also remains a priority but the lack of homes for average earners and middle-income families in Westminster needs to be addressed.”
To deliver these new homes, Westminster City Council will encourage developers to be more imaginative, steering them to look at modern methods of construction such as modular homes where suitable.
Looking further ahead, the Conservative-led Council is now informerly consulting on its draft City Plan before beginning its statutory consultation in the new year. The plan, which sets out a blueprint for how Westminster remains in a strong and competitive position over between now and 2040 is being reviewed in part to reflect changes to central government policy towards affordable housing.
The draft, published earlier this month, focuses on three key themes; affordable housing, creating and maintaining the right environment for business growth and improving the environment across our City.
To maintain Westminster’s position as a global centre for business, the draft plan in particular highlights the need to increase the amount of floor space available to businesses. Westminster Conservatives hope to create enough to accommodate 75,000 new jobs on top of the 600,000 jobs that are currently provided by 120,000 businesses operating in Westminster.
On improving our City’s environment, the plan focuses on creating more green spaces for both local people and visitors to enjoy, making development within the City air quality neutral and continuing to support the roll-out of electric car charging points across Westminster.
If you would like to find out more about Westminster’s draft City plan you can at: www.westminster.gov.uk/cityplan2040.
