Skip to main content
Shelter Logo
England
Donate

Our general election campaign and beyond

Help us hold the new government to account. Join our call for change and tell them that they must take bold action to tackle the housing emergency in their first 100 days in power.

Add your name

Home is our country’s foundation

A secure home provides the building blocks for a happy and healthy life, and a fair housing system that protects everyone is the foundation of a thriving country. But, too many of us don’t have a safe place to call home and the housing emergency is everywhere we look.

Currently, one in three adults in Britain (that's 17.5 million people) are negatively affected by the housing emergency – living in overcrowded, dangerous, unstable or unaffordable housing.

Successive governments have ignored this year after year – failing to build more social homes which has pushed more and more people into expensive and insecure private renting. The impact of this has been devastating.

  • 3,898 people sleep rough on any given night

  • 7 out of 10 private renters say they are struggling or falling behind with their rent

  • 260,000 social homes lost in the past decade

The action the new government can take in their first 100 days

This is why we now need bold and decisive steps from our new government to tackle the housing emergency once and for all.

They promised real change with a strategy to end homelessness, reform for renters, and the biggest increase in social housing in a generation. This change must happen quickly and we would like to see the government bring forward concrete measures in their first 100 days in power.

To prove they are serious about prioritising housing, the new government must:

  • give councils the funding, tools, and capacity to build social rent homes directly

  • freeze right-to-buy schemes and immediately review the policy

  • include a nationally set 20% minimum social housing requirement on large development sites

  • introduce new laws to reform renting, including protections against unjust evictions, measures to stabilise rents, and an end to discrimination

We know we can do this, as we’ve done it before. After the Second World War, hundreds of thousands of social homes were often built each year, and private renting was secure and affordable in the 60s and 70s.

Our general election manifesto

Before the general election, we created our manifesto. It outlined a clear plan of action and was developed with people from across the country, from rural and coastal towns to urban centres.

They shared their stories of the housing emergency with us. And they also worked out solutions to fix our broken housing system - build more social homes and make renting affordable and safe.

Over the election period, hundreds of thousands of you supported our manifesto and put housing on the agenda of every single new MP. It’s now time to keep up the pressure and make sure the new government delivers the change we desperately need.

Help us tell the government that they must take bold action to tackle the housing emergency in their first 100 days in power.

Add your name

Our manifesto asked party leaders to:

  • build a new generation of social homes 

  • make renting affordable   

  • raise standards in rented homes  

  • strengthen housing rights

Read our full manifesto [PDF, 15MB]

Read the shorter executive summary [PDF, 7MB]

Our manifesto was shaped by people with lived experience of housing injustice

  • people who are homeless and trapped in temporary accommodation waiting for a social home.

  • people too scared to complain to their landlord about damp and mould affecting their physical health for fear of being evicted.

  • people who are being crushed by the weight of unfair rent increases.

We all know someone struggling with the cost or condition of their home

Clare's story

'Eighteen months being at the mercy of a broken safety net of emergency and temporary accommodation. We found ourselves priced and discriminated out of the private rental sector. At every turn to be told, ''there are no houses'' was devastating.'

Priscilla's story

'I am stressed, anxious and depressed. I can't sleep and I can't concentrate at work. When I look for places, I don’t know what to expect, because often even though I meet all the criteria, the property will be offered to someone who is in a stronger financial situation than me and can offer more money.'

Dave's story

'While I was looking for a new place, I was being asked for six months' rent up front, which made it very difficult. I didn’t have that money, and I didn’t know anyone who could be a guarantor – it’s these invisible barriers that are in the way of securing yourself a new place to rent. So much of it isn’t really in your control.'

  • 172 families are served a section 21 'no fault' eviction notice every day

  • 145,800 children are growing up homeless in temporary accommodation

  • 1.3 million households are waiting for a social home

Do you have a story to share about how the housing emergency is affecting you or your family? We'd love to hear from you.

Join our call for change and tell the new government that they must take bold action to tackle the housing emergency in their first 100 days in power.

Add your name

We're committed to prioritising anti-racism beyond the general election

The housing emergency in England shows itself most acutely in the inequalities it perpetuates. Our open letter demands party leaders prioritise racial justice in the housing sector.

Read our open letter

Other ways to support us

Share your story

Your story can help us campaign. So, if you've lived it, we want to hear about it.

Help fund our campaigning

Our campaigning activity is powered by your generous donations. Give today to boost our chance of success

Arm yourself with knowledge

Learn more about the broken systems that have caused a housing emergency