More than Bricks: Stories of Home

Shelter is carrying out a major longitudinal research project, funded by IKEA, looking at the impact of moving into a social rent home. Since the project began in 2024, we have been hearing directly from social tenants about their experiences. Many of the social tenants who have taken part in the project were previously privately renting or experiencing homelessness.

Shelter commissioned HACT (Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust) to deliver the longitudinal surveys and interviews. This briefing summarises the key emerging findings from the interviews.

This research project is a pivotal step in our partnership with IKEA that sees our two organisations joining forces to defend the one thing we value most: home. Together, we’re calling for the delivery of 90,000 social rent homes per year over 10 years to end the housing emergency.