Westminster City Council is set to implement a hybrid delivery model for its Housing Solutions Service (HSS) in April 2026, as the borough grapples with a significant surge in homelessness applications driven by a challenging housing market and cost-of-living pressures. The decision was made during a Cabinet meeting on Monday 15 September 2025, where members discussed the reshaping of housing services in response to the escalating crisis.
The council has seen a dramatic rise in homelessness applications, more than doubling in three years from 1,910 in 2021/22 to 3,856 in 2024/25. According to the Public reports pack 15th-Sep-2025 18.30 Cabinet, this increase is attributed to a challenging and limited housing market and continued cost-of-living pressures for many residents. The demand for temporary accommodation (TA) placements, driven by both legislative changes and global events, has placed further pressure on the housing market and service delivery. This increase has put immense pressure on the HSS, which is responsible for providing advice and support to people in Westminster who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
In July 2024, the Cabinet approved a recommendation to reshape the HSS in line with the Future of Westminster Commission. Key functions, including Frontline Housing Advice, Homeless Prevention and Support, Families Pathway, and Nominations and Allocations, were brought in-house from April 2025, with 110 staff transferring to the council. Remaining services, such as the single homeless pathway and Temporary Accommodation (TA) management, were commissioned from Places for People via RMG until March 2026.
The approved hybrid model aims to balance strategic insourcing with targeted recommissioning. From April 2026, the council will bring in-house statutory decision-making for single homeless people, TA rent collection, and Private Rental Sector (PRS) placements. Simultaneously, prevention and support for singles, and TA property management will be recommissioned.
The council believes that this approach will enable the integration of services where there is alignment with existing structures and transformation opportunities, while leveraging market expertise to redesign and commission services that deliver added value and economies of scale. The financial implications of the recommendations are estimated to be cost neutral when compared to the current cost of delivering the service in 2025/26, according to the Public reports pack 15th-Sep-2025 18.30 Cabinet.
The Cabinet delegated 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 Councillor Liza Begum, Cabinet Member for Housing Services and the Executive Director of Finance and Resources in consultation with Councillor David Boothroyd, Cabinet Member for Finance and Council Reform.
To address the increasing demand for temporary accommodation, the council is implementing an ambitious TA acquisition programme. According to a report discussed at the meeting, main duty acceptances have increased from 365 households in 2021/22 to 1,141 in 2024/25.
The Council acknowledges that it will require a significant amount of effort and change to insource circa 50 members of staff into a newly designed operating model and structure, while simultaneously recommissioning services from the market, and driving service improvement across all functions. To ensure continuity of service and a smooth transition for service users during the insourcing and recommissioning processes, a dedicated project team will be established through transformation funding to oversee the design of the target operating model, new structure, insourcing plan and recommissioning work. Progress will be reported monthly to the Insourcing Programme board, to the Cabinet Member for Housing, as well as routine updates to Change Board. A comprehensive communications plan will put in place to ensure that staff, Unions and the market are engaged with effectively and are kept up to date as the insourcing and recommissioning progresses.
