The Westminster Council Cabinet was scheduled to meet on 15 September 2025 to discuss the reshaping of housing services, and to review the minutes of their previous meeting. The meeting was also scheduled to cover the 2024/25 Fairer Westminster Annual Progress Overview, the Revenue and Capital Outturn and Statement of Accounts 2024/25, the acquisition of property for temporary accommodation, and a leisure contract extension.

Reshaping of Housing Solutions Service

The Cabinet were scheduled to consider a report about the reshaping of the Housing Solutions Service (HSS). In July 2024, the Cabinet had approved a hybrid model for the HSS, and this report concerned the second phase of that reshaping. The report noted that Westminster had seen a large rise in homelessness applications, more than doubling in three years, from 1,910 in 2021/22 to 3,856 in 2024/25.

The report recommended that the Cabinet:

• Approve the implementation of a hybrid delivery model for the Housing Solutions Services not already in-sourced.
• Agree to bring in-house the following functions: statutory decision making for homeless singles, rent collection from those living in Temporary Accommodation, and the Private Rental Sector (PRS) placement service, to be directly delivered by the Council from April 2026.
• Delegate approval for the new operating model and associated budget for insourced services jointly to the Executive Director of Housing and Commercial Partnerships in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and the Executive Director of Finance and Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Council Reform.

The report stated that a review of service functions had been undertaken to determine the optimal delivery approach for the Single Person Homeless Service and the Management of Council owned Temporary Accommodation, which remain under contract until 31 March 2026. The review considered three options:

• Full recommissioning of remaining services
• Full insourcing of remaining services
• Partial insourcing to establish a hybrid model

The recommended approach was to implement a hybrid model from April 2026. This would involve:

• Insourcing statutory decision-making for single homeless applicants, TA rent collection, and Private Rental Sector (PRS) placement service.
• Recommissioning prevention and support services for single people, and property management, compliance, and inspection of TA properties.

The report argued that insourcing statutory decision-making for single applicants would enhance control over decisions and improve the customer journey. It also stated that insourcing TA rent collection offers the opportunity to redesign the service to work more proactively with residents earlier and integrate more effectively with existing income generation teams. Similarly, insourcing the Private Rental Sector placement service (known as Westlets) will enable a more targeted approach to stimulating the PRS market and expanding the housing offer to improve prevention outcomes.

The report noted that demand from single individuals facing homelessness has grown year on year, with homeless applications from singles increased by 52% in 2024/25 compared to the previous financial year and an increase of 147% when compared to 2020/21. The report stated that this group often experiences multiple disadvantage, which is why the current service model includes support to singles from The Passage¹, a subcontracted provider. The proposed recommissioning aims to preserve a distinct, community-based support offer, redesigned and jointly commissioned as an integrated service to assist both rough sleepers and those eligible for statutory homelessness support.

The report also noted that the council's TA ² acquisition programme aims to address the rising demand for stage 1 temporary accommodation, driven by increased main duty acceptances, which have increased from 365 households in 2021/22 to 1,141 in 2024/25.

Minutes

The minutes from the Cabinet Meeting held on 14 July 2025 were provided for approval. During that meeting, the Cabinet:

• considered the Huguenot House Redevelopment – Full Business Case and Appointment of Delivery Partner
• reviewed the 2024/25 Fairer Westminster Annual Progress Overview
• considered the Revenue and Capital Outturn and Statement of Accounts 2024/25
• discussed the Acquisition of Property in HA0 - Temporary Accommodation
• considered a Leisure Contract Extension During the discussion of the Huguenot House redevelopment, Dr Peter Kertesz addressed the Cabinet on behalf of residents to raise concerns about the human aspect of the proposed redevelopment and the impact that moving elderly residents out of their homes and communities may have on their health and wellbeing. Councillor Geoff Barraclough, Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development, noted that the Council's City Plan revisions currently underway will introduce a retrofit first planning policy, noting that this application will need to demonstrate to Planning Committee that the objectives cannot be fulfilled with a retrofit scheme.

Other Matters

The Cabinet were also scheduled to discuss:

• The 2024/25 Fairer Westminster Annual Progress Overview
• The Revenue and Capital Outturn and Statement of Accounts 2024/25
• The Acquisition of Property in HA0 - Temporary Accommodation
• A Leisure Contract Extension