Why Shelter and IKEA are calling for social housing to end child homelessness

Thousands of Shelter supporters and IKEA customers have signed an open letter calling on the government to invest in social housing, so that the record number of children growing up in temporary accommodation can finally have a permanent place to call home.

The letter is the culmination of the ‘Unwelcome Home’ campaign, which toured IKEA stores across the country. An IKEA FLISAT dolls house was made to represent the terrible conditions faced by many families who are homeless and stuck in temporary accommodation.

The housing emergency is driving child poverty

The letter was sent to the two government ministers responsible for creating a ten-year strategy to reduce child poverty. This strategy must address the housing emergency. The 151,000 children who are homeless and living in temporary accommodation are at the sharpest end of the housing emergency.

Despite parents' best efforts, children in temporary accommodation are forced to go without the basics of a good childhood. Shelter research from 2023 found that more than a third (35%) of parents said their children have to share beds and 6 in 10 (61%) said there was not enough space for their child to play in temporary accommodation.

Over a million children are living in poverty due to the cost of their family's rent. Struggling to afford the cost of a home forces parents to make impossible choices, cutting back on other essential spending just to keep a roof over their heads.

Social housing is the sustainable solution to child poverty

The child poverty strategy needs to address the housing emergency by setting out how the government will prevent so many families from struggling with the cost of unaffordable homes.

Making sure that housing benefit is adequate would bring immediate relief for families in both private rented homes and social housing. This should include permanently linking the local housing allowance (LHA) to the real cost of renting. LHA sets the amount that private renters can receive from the housing element of universal credit. Currently, the government has chosen to freeze LHA in line with plans set out by the previous chancellor, which will push many families towards homelessness.

There must also be an end to the cruel household benefit cap, which hits private and social renters alike and disproportionately affects lone-parent families and survivors of domestic abuse. The cap is arbitrary and causes very deep poverty for thousands of families. Shelter is part of the End Child Poverty coalition, which is campaigning for an end to both the benefit cap and the two-child limit to universal credit.

But if we're going to end the injustice of temporary accommodation for good, we need permanent, truly affordable homes with rents linked to local incomes. That's why significant investment in social housing must be at the forefront of the child poverty strategy. We know that building 90,000 social homes a year for ten years would end homelessness, by housing everyone currently stuck in temporary accommodation and making sure that many more families can access a suitable affordable home before they ever become homeless.

The wider benefits of social housing

Social rents are two-thirds cheaper than private rents. But the benefit of more social homes is not just that low-income families would be better able to afford their rent. Social homes give children the stability they need to succeed in life.

Permanent tenancies mean that families can put down roots in their communities. Children can make friends and focus on their schoolwork. This contrasts sharply with life in temporary accommodation, where families are often forced to move with less than 48 hours' notice and almost half of children have had to move schools.

To make the case for the positive impact of life in social housing, IKEA have funded a Shelter research project following households as they move from private renting or temporary accommodation into their own social home. We'll share more about this research in a forthcoming update.

Our message to the government is clear: to reduce child poverty, we need a strategy which prioritises investment in social housing.

Add your name to our campaign calling for more social homes and an end to the housing emergency.