Westminster news, what's on and local information

Coming up

All The events
  1. 6 to 15 Nov Field of Remembrance North Green, Westminster Abbey · Free
  2. Sat 7 Nov Battersea Park Fireworks 6pm · Battersea Park · From £10.60
  3. Sun 8 Nov National Service of Remembrance 11am · The Cenotaph
  4. Mon 9 Nov Oxford Street Christmas lights switch-on 2pm · Oxford Street · Free
  5. Mon 9 Nov Here I Stand: Michael Morpurgo 7pm · St Martin-in-the-Fields · From £10

Latest Westminster news

Local Info Westminster Temporary Accommodation: Half Is Out of Borough Westminster temporary accommodation: half of it is outside the borough and waits are long. Where you can be placed, your repairs and how to challenge it. · 8 min read Westminster Lord Mayor Raises King's Award Flag at LEYF Marsham Street Westminster's Lord Mayor raised LEYF's King's Award flag at its Marsham Street nursery on 28 October, as LEYF launched a 2026 to 2030 sustainability plan. · 2 min read Local Info Westminster Council House Transfer and the 42-Day Swap Westminster council housing transfer: a transfer needs overcrowding or a medical need and no arrears; a mutual exchange gets a decision within 42 days. · 7 min read New Year London New Year's Day Parade: 1 Jan, 1pm, Free on the Street The London Parade runs from Piccadilly to Parliament Square on Friday 1 January 2027, 1pm to 4.30pm. Free to watch standing; grandstand seats are ticketed. · 4 min read Christmas Serpentine Christmas Day swim: 9am race, club members only The Serpentine Swimming Club's Peter Pan Cup race starts at 9am on Christmas Day in Hyde Park. Only qualified members race, and the lido has no public swim. · 3 min read Local Info Disabled Facilities Grant Westminster: Up to £30,000 Disabled Facilities Grant in Westminster: up to £30,000, no means test for children, a top-up that cuts your contribution, and a 6-month decision deadline. · 7 min read Local Info Westminster Handyperson Service: Free Jobs for Over-60s Westminster's handyperson service is free for over-60s and disability benefit claimants: two half-day visits a year, £50 of materials each. What it fixes. · 5 min read Covent Garden Covent Garden Roadworks: Road Closures and Traffic Orders Near Covent Garden Covent Garden roadworks: 201-203 City Road (notice of 29 Oct) and every other traffic order within 3 km, checked each morning with the council's notice... Marylebone Marylebone Roadworks: Road Closures and Traffic Orders Near Marylebone Marylebone roadworks: 54 James Street (notice of 28 Oct) and every other traffic order within 3 km, checked each morning with the council's notice linked. Paddington Paddington Roadworks: Road Closures and Traffic Orders Near Paddington Paddington roadworks: Paddington Underground Station Praed Street London (notice of 28 Oct) and every other traffic order within 3 km, checked each... Soho Soho Roadworks: Road Closures and Traffic Orders Near Soho Soho roadworks: no temporary traffic orders in force within 3 km of Soho right now. Checked every morning from the council's notices. Victoria Victoria Roadworks: Road Closures and Traffic Orders Near Victoria Victoria roadworks: no temporary traffic orders in force within 3 km of Victoria right now. Checked every morning from the council's notices.

Almost nobody says they live in Westminster. They say Marylebone, Pimlico, Bayswater, Paddington, St John’s Wood, Belgravia, Soho or Queen’s Park. The word means Parliament and the Abbey to the rest of the country, and a council to the people who live under it.

That council is worth paying attention to. It runs controlled parking zones and permits across nearly the whole borough, licenses the West End, and works through a planning caseload in which most buildings are listed or in a conservation area. All of it is published. We read it and write down what it says, with a link to the document on every fact.

The pages people use most

  • Westminster planning: from 10 August the Oxford Street Development Corporation, not the council, decides planning applications on Oxford Street, and the new City Plan consultation is open until 11 December.
  • Westminster house prices: the borough average fell 22.8% in a year, but the typical sale was £805,000 and 86% of them were flats. Postcode by postcode.
  • Roadworks and travel: what is dug up now, the carnival closures, the £18 congestion charge and what an hour of parking costs in each of the seven zones.
  • Tube and train times: £3.10 a trip in Zone 1, £8.90 a day, and journey times from Maida Vale, Pimlico and Paddington.
  • Things to do in Westminster: verified prices, including the Abbey at £27.13 until 1 September and three of the best things here for nothing.

More in Local Info, News and What’s On.

Every fact is linked to the official source it came from.