Westminster's grand plans: family housing, safer streets and a return to cool for Soho are unveiled in exclusive preview

Westminster has poor social housing and high crime rates. Many of its streets need a complete makeover while once-quirky Soho has become corporate and sanitised.

But now the local council is pledging to change all this with a new urban plan, published today and previewed exclusively by Homes & Property.

Proposed reforms include a curb on new skyscrapers and a ban on mega-basement super-mansions so beloved of often-absent foreign investors. The aim is to return Westminster to middle-income families and small businesses.

Westminster City Council pledges to build 1,495 new homes per year for the next decade; prioritise housing for the “squeezed middle” and reject planning applications to combine properties that create huge single homes which are then rarely used.

The “City for All” blueprint, which will take effect from January next year, proposes to turn away big chain retailers and hotels from Soho, preserving it for small and creative businesses.

The West End heart of Westminster is beset with problems. There are 114 people per hectare in the borough — double the London average.

Average Westminster salaries of £52,199 fall way short of what is needed to fund a mortgage for the average house there, which is currently priced £1,054,400.

“We have some of the most affluent residential areas in the country but also some of the most deprived,” says Richard Beddoe, council cabinet member for place shaping and planning.

“Housing shortages have been exacerbated by the increasing disconnect between what people earn and the cost of property.”

The borough caters for the both the rich and the lowest earners: 25 per cent of all homes are social housing.

But this leaves middle-income households earning £30,000 to £90,000 a year finding they have nowhere to live. Beddoe promises to build 4,000 new homes for this group.

But Westminster must not forget its vulnerable residents, one property analyst warns: “Central London boroughs are very transitory. Couples soon realise they cannot afford to bring up a family in an area that cannot even cope with its social housing, let alone its provision for senior living.”

The Conservative council plans to block planning permission for more “private palaces” with a 200sq m limit on new homes.

“The size limits will ensure we make the best use of space,” says Beddoe. “And we know we have to provide homes for nurses, teachers, police and other workers.”

He adds: “No more Russian oligarchs buying up Nash-designed terrace townhouses overlooking Regent’s Park.”

Westminster makes more money than any other London borough, generating £53.6 billion a year, or 3.2 per cent of the country’s gross national product.

Soho is an important part of the borough’s tourism, retail and creative economy. However, a quarter of small shops have shut down in the area since 2007. Pubs, clubs and live music venues continue to close.

From next January, new planning rules will restrict the size of shops in Soho to protect independent businesses while hotels must have fewer than 40 rooms.

The council has also pledged to create 10,000 new jobs in fashion, art, media and film through apprenticeship programmes.

“Soho has become sanitised by too many large chains and businesses,” says Beddoe. “We will now refuse permission for large commercial developments.”

Westminster has the highest crime rate of any borough according to comparison website finder.com.

With the 2017 Westminster Bridge terror attack in mind, the City plan puts pressure on developers to design security measures into their schemes and seek Metropolitan Police advice at the planning phase.

Petty crime and antisocial behaviour are rife on the North Bank but not addressed in the plan.

To attract families and young professionals, the council must create safe streets as well as build homes at the right price.

Planners will cap the height of towers in line with existing structures and not overshadow the 11,000 listed buildings, 56 conservation areas and 85 traditional London squares.

There will be clusters of tall buildings in Victoria and Paddington — the commercial hubs of Westminster —with West End Gate, a 30-storey residential tower, approved for Edgware Road and a school and Dudley House, a 22-floor apartment block, approved in Paddington.

Elsewhere the borough will remain “low rise”. The plan sets out heights that are appropriate across different pockets without harming the townscape and views.

The city plan stretches from 2020 to 2040. At the moment it is hard to find homes in the heart of Westminster for less than £800,000.

The conversion of the red-brick Grade II-listed Westminster Fire Station is under way with 17 flats and a new 5,000sq ft restaurant, Mathura, from Michelin-star chef Atul Kochhar, on the ground floor.

The scheme launches next year with homes priced from £850,000. Call CBRE on 020 7420 3050.

Ebury Place, by Taylor Wimpey in Victoria, has 47 one-, two- and three-bedroom luxury flats. The boutique scheme has 24-hour concierge and views of the Houses of Parliament.

Two-bedroom flats are priced from £1.27 million. Visit eburyplace.com or call 020 8003 6719.

New development Noma is in Kilburn High Street, the last real pocket of regeneration in the City of Westminster.

The apartments, with one to four bedrooms, are set in landscaped grounds with green walls and roofs, solar panels and low carbon emissions. It fits with Westminster City Council’s pledge to remove air pollution.

There’s a residents’ gym and the cheapest flat available is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home priced at £756,000. Visit live@noma-westminster.com or call JLL on 020 7205 2496.

Also in Kilburn High Street, in a gated mews, are 45 new one-, two and three-bedroom apartments at Park Place.

The smallest, starting at £515,000, have already been sold but there are some two-bedroom flats left at £715,000.

There’s a gym and concierge service. Call Savills on 020 7409 8756.