Like other London boroughs, Westminster City Council faces a major temporary accommodation (TA) crisis. More than 4,000 households are living in TA, and in 2024/25 the Council spent £66 million on TA – up from £4 million in 2021/22. This is not only a
financial crisis, but a human one.
Z2K’s co-produced research report, Frozen in Time, found that Westminster TA residents are often going without the essentials of everyday life. These findings align with what are now described as the Five Basics of temporary accommodation: cooking facilities, Wi-Fi, laundry facilities, storage and information. Z2K is part of the Fix the Five Basics campaign, which is calling on all London local authorities to guarantee access to these essentials.
This briefing, co-produced with Z2K’s temporary accommodation residents’ group, presents evidence, testimonials and case studies from Westminster residents showing how the lack of access to the Five Basics affects health, finances and employment. It
outlines practical, affordable solutions that the campaign is urging all political parties to commit to Fix the Five Basics in their local election manifestos.
Z2K's campaign asks
- When households are placed without a kitchen, the council should provide cooking facilities like microwaves and plug-in hobs, as well as supporting access to community kitchens. Where this is not possible, every resident in TA without a kitchen
should be supplied with consistent funding to cover three nutritious meals a day. - The council should provide reliable Wi-Fi for TA residents at no extra cost. Where there are barriers to this, the council should look to provide support via a free data SIM card scheme, as is currently provided by other local authorities like the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
- The Council should ensure that as far as possible properties used as temporary accommodation have free-to-use onsite washers and dryers. Where this isn’t possible, the council should cover launderette costs or provide access to convenient, free community laundry facilities.
- The council should proactively offer free, local and secure storage to every TA resident where this is needed. The council should also avoid working with providers which charge to access belongings.
- The council should ensure TA residents have access to named officer and phone number for support with repairs and case updates as part of its ongoing work to transform the housing solutions service. The council should also review the information packs it provides to TA residents to ensure they are appropriate and accessible, and offer a monthly meeting, phone call, email or text explaining application status.