Westminster Community Homes

WCH was set up in 2008 by Westminster City Council. We are a charity that offers housing in Westminster to those on the City Council waiting lists. CityWest Homes manage our properties just like they do for Westminster Council, so you will receive exactly the same level of service as someone who lives in a property owned by the Council.

Westminster Community Homes always provides white goods, curtains and carpets in our properties. We offer homes for social rent as well as intermediate housing. In the future we also plan to offer homes for shared ownership, and we are currently building two of these homes on John Aird Court.

I hope that you will find this newsletter informative, and if you are interested in playing a key role in the activities of WCH, please see our article on the two vacancies we currently have for Resident Board Members.

Best wishes

Mike – Independent Chair of Westminster Community Homes

When WCH was set up we did not own any properties so the two current Resident Board Members are City Council residents. Now that we have over 270 properties, we would like the two Residents to be from our homes. The role is voluntary, and requires attendance at approximately ten meetings per year. We need people like you, with lots of enthusiasm and dedication, people who care about the homes they live in, and want to make things better for Westminster residents. Please don't be daunted if you have never done this sort of thing before, our meetings are not too formal and they are an excellent way of residents learning new skills and taking on new challenges.

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role, or see a description of the role, please contact Faith Rose on 0207 641 1030 or email faith@westminstercommunityhomes.org.uk. We will be holding an event for all of our residents in February which will be an opportunity for you to meet the current Resident Board Members and find out more about the role. We look forward to seeing you there!

Because space is in limited supply in Westminster, with this project we aim to find hidden homes by identifying under used areas such as undercrofts that can be converted into new homes. In January 2011 we completed the renovation of four homes as well as providing ten new homes on the Warwick estate. Six of these units are wheelchair accessible. On most of these homes first priority was given to families already living on the estate to ease overcrowding of their existing homes. In November 2011 we completed two large family sized homes at Avenue Gardens.

Some of our other successes to date include providing 142 units under the Settled Homes Scheme. This scheme gave settled accommodation to people who were accepted by the Council as statutory homeless. Without this settled homes scheme families would have faced an uncertain future in temporary accommodation.

We have also purchased and let over 50 homes for intermediate rent to people who are living and working in Westminster that otherwise would not be able to afford to live in the borough.

100% of our properties are available to Westminster Council to allocate to people on the waiting list. Where we build new properties, wherever possible we give first choice to families already living in that estate. WCH works hard to maintain the balance between providing much needed accommodation whilst respecting existing communities.

Visit us at www.westminstercommunityhomes.org.uk

On our website you will find information about us and what we do. There is also a section especially for residents where you will find information to help you; such as who to contact for repairs, how to deal with anti-social behaviour and how to get in touch.

We are always keen to hear from our residents, so if you have any comments or suggestions, please contact us on feedback@westminstercommunityhomes.org.uk

Look out for our next Newsletter in April 2012!