Housing Needs Assessment 2006 - Westminster City Council

1. Introduction1. Introduction1.1 IntroductionThis report contains a comprehensive assessment of housing need across all tenures in the City ofWestminster area. Three main aims and objectives were set out in the Council’s brief for theproject. These are summarised as:• Analyse the housing market and assess levels of housing need across all tenures within theCity of Westminster• Inform the Council’s Local Development Framework• Guide future investment in the provision of social and intermediate housing.1.2 City of WestminsterThe City of Westminster is located in the heart of London and is bordered by the London boroughsof Kensington and Chelsea to the west, Brent to the north-west, Camden to the North, the City ofLondon to the east, and Lambeth and Wandsworth to the south.The City of Westminster is a diverse and extremely high profile borough containing a largeproportion of the country’s major public and private buildings including the Palace of Westminsterand Buckingham Palace. It is also home to many cultural and historical attractions such as MadameTussauds and the West End Theatres. Many of the city’s major retail centres are also located withinWestminster, from Oxford Street to Covent Garden. It is also home to several large areas of openspace such as St James’s Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park.In terms of public transport, the City of Westminster is very well connected, and served by amajority of the Underground lines (Victoria, Jubilee, Central, Piccadilly, Bakerloo, Northern,Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan), as well as major National Rail stations ofPaddington, Marylebone, Charing Cross and Victoria.According to the Indices of Deprivation, in 2004, the City of Westminster ranked 18 th out of 33London boroughs (1 being the most deprived).PAGE 17