Housing Needs Assessment 2006 - Westminster City Council

Westminster – Housing Needs Assessment 2006The table below builds on this by looking at the turnover of owner-occupied stock within each sizecategory over the last two years.Table 11.2 Turnover of dwellings in the owner-occupied stockby size of dwelling (number of bedrooms)Number ofbedroomsNumbermoving in pasttwo yearsNumber ofhouseholdsEstimatedannualturnover rate1 bedroom 508 6,405 4.0%2 bedrooms 463 13,936 1.7%3 bedrooms 634 20,714 1.5%4+ bedrooms 80 8,064 0.5%TOTAL 1,685 49,119 1.7%Source: City of Westminster Housing Needs Survey 2006The recent mover data points to an overall turnover rate of 1.7%, although this will be a slightunderestimation of total turnover for the dwellings concerned (given that there may have beenmultiple moves in the two-year period). Turnover of one bedroom dwellings is greater than for theother property size categories.Finally, we can consider households claiming financial assistance with their housing costs (formortgage interest payments). The data suggests that around 1.6% of households with a mortgagereceive income support towards their mortgage payments (445 households). This figure represents0.9% of all owners. Additionally, it is estimated that 28.8% of owner-occupiers with a mortgage arepaying more for housing than is recommended, based on the affordability test described in Chapter6.11.3 The private rented sectorThe private rented sector is an important part of the housing spectrum in an area. In Britishconditions it is not often a long-term choice but is an important transitional tenure. In many casesthe private rented sector is a stage in the progress of a household moving into owner-occupation,but can also be a stage in the move of a household into social rented housing.In more detail, and as a market sector, the private rented sector plays an important role. It meets theneeds of:i) Business people who have short term reasons for staying in a place (e.g. for six months or ayear, when it would not be worth the time and transactional cost of buying property)PAGE 106