Westminster Council's Cabinet has acknowledged a £13.6 million overspend in the General Fund for the 2024/25 financial year, but has assured residents that reserves will cover the deficit. The overspend is primarily attributed to rising costs associated with temporary accommodation. The council is implementing measures to control these rising costs and prevent future overspends, including a strategy to build resilience into the council's temporary accommodation (TA) estate and mitigate the escalating costs of addressing homelessness through emergency accommodation, according to the Cabinet Report Part A - Acquisition of Property in HA0 Temporary Accommodation.
Several factors have contributed to the increased demand for temporary accommodation. These include:
- High rent levels in Westminster and surrounding areas, significantly above Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.
- Demand for social housing exceeding supply, leading to long waiting times in TA.
- The increase in homelessness due to the cost-of-living crisis and landlords leaving the private sector or increasing rents.
The Cabinet met on Monday 14 July 2025, to discuss the Revenue and Capital Outturn and Statement of Accounts for 2024/25. According to the Cabinet Report - 2024-25 Revenue and Capital Outturn and Statement of Accounts, the General Fund revenue outturn shows an overspend of £13.627m, which will be offset using an earmarked reserve specifically designated for this purpose.
The report also noted that the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) outturn is a deficit of £4.1m, which will be addressed by applying HRA balances after the planned utilisation of earmarked reserves to fund the Housing Improvement Programme, Rent Support Fund and additional Health and Safety works in the year. The timeline for addressing the Housing Revenue Account deficit is not specified in the document.
The general fund capital outturn reflects an underspend of £88.828m, while the HRA capital outturn shows an underspend of £52.265m. The underspend of £88.828m in the General Fund is attributed to delays or uncompleted acquisitions in 15 projects, including the TA Acquisition Programme, Church Street Acquisitions, Seymour Leisure Centre, and Ebury Bridge Estate Equity Loan For Resident Leaseholders. Reasons for the underspend include acquisitions not completing, on-site issues and delays, and contractual issues.
The Cabinet approved the reprofiling from the 2024/25 capital programme to/from future years, as detailed in Appendix 1 - GF Reprofiling by Project Analysis and Appendix 2 - HRA Reprofiling by Project Analysis. These appendices provide a project-by-project analysis of the reprofiling. The long-term implications of these changes are not specified in the document.
