Housing Needs Assessment 2006 - Westminster City Council

11. Market housingii) Those planning entry to the owner-occupied market but who have not had time either tofind suitable property or accumulated a sufficient deposit to do soiii) The needs of those who cannot obtain suitable affordable housing, and cannot affordmarket prices to rent or buy. With the aid of Housing Benefit they may obtain short termhousing in the private rented sector.Data suggests that the City of Westminster has a larger than average private rented sector (34.3% ofhouseholds compared with around 10% nationally). The two tables below show the size ofdwellings in the private rented sector and the relative turnover of stock. It is clear that the number ofone and two bedroom properties is proportionately much larger in the private rented sector – 76.9%of all private rented stock is one or two bedroom, which compares with only 41.4% of the owneroccupiedstock.Overall, the data shows that turnover of stock is much higher in the private rented sector, whichwould be expected given the transitory nature of the tenure. The estimated annual turnover rate inthe private rented sector is 35.1% compared to 1.7% in the owner-occupied sector.Table 11.3 Size of dwellings (number of bedrooms) in theprivate rented stockNumber of bedrooms Households % of households1 bedroom 16,082 41.7%2 bedrooms 13,606 35.2%3 bedrooms 7,629 19.8%4+ bedrooms 1,284 3.3%TOTAL 38,602 100.0%Source: City of Westminster Housing Needs Survey 2006Table 11.4 Turnover of dwellings in the private rented stock bysize of dwelling (number of bedrooms)Number ofbedroomsNumbermoving in pasttwo yearsNumber ofhouseholdsEstimatedannualturnover rate1 bedroom 12,821 16,082 39.9%2 bedrooms 10,397 13,606 38.2%3 bedrooms 3,269 7,629 21.4%4+ bedrooms 621 1,284 24.2%TOTAL 27,108 38,602 35.1%Source: City of Westminster Housing Needs Survey 2006PAGE 107