Flat-pack furniture giant IKEA has teamed up with campaigning charity Shelter to highlight the issue of homelessness.
The Scandinavian firm, citing Shelter’s figures, claims that 21 per cent of adults in the UK are worried about losing their home with 49 per cent saying if they lost their current home they would struggle to find somewhere else to live.
The figures also claim that in the past year in order to keep up with their housing costs, 18 per cent of adults in the UK say they have taken on additional work, 17 per cent have skipped meals and a further quarter 25 per cent would consider skipping meals.
IKEA also uses Shelter’s claim that one in every 208 people in England is currently experiencing homelessness “with thousands more likely to lose their homes by the end of the year as a result of the cost of living crisis.”
Now IKEA has launched ‘Real Life Roomsets’ in four of its big city stores.
The roomsets are described as being “cramped, dangerous, and grotty spaces that an increasing number of people who are experiencing homelessness are forced to experience when living in temporary accommodation.”
A statement from IKEA says that “with a shortage in social housing, some families are finding themselves living in temporary accommodation for years, and are very often asked to move several times with short notice.”
The four roomsets are in London, where Shelter claims one in 58 people are experiencing homelessness; in Manchester (one in 74); Birmingham (one in 80); and Bristol (one in 183).
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, says: “A grotty hostel or B&B is not a home, but this is the reality for too many families stuck in temporary accommodation. That’s why we’re working with IKEA to show the grim living situations that families who become homeless are having to face – from having no space for children to do homework or play, to having to share beds, to being moved miles away from schools and support networks.
“With rents at an all-time high and no end to the cost of living crisis in sight, we’re desperately worried that more people are going to become homeless this year.
“The solution to this crisis is simple and it’s staring the government in the face: we must build a new generation of good quality social housing that people can actually afford to live in.”
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They could always let them live in their enormous showrooms
A living demo of their product
Why does a low grade furniture retailer feel the need to even comment ? 🫤
B&Q are also supporting Shelter with big sign in their stores. I wrote to CEO and explained what Shelter do and more importantly do not do ie provide shelter and also explained the damage being done to PRS - bearing in mind the number of Landlords who spend money in B&Q - guess what - no answer! I dont shop there anymore!
My goodness Catherine, without seeing your post I’ve written similar. Couldn’t agree more. If they really wanted to help homeless they would engage with the PRS. I dont shop/give to Shelter charity shops at all now. IKEA will be given a wide berth too now.
Hi Catherine, I've also written a similar letter to B&Q and got no reply.
I use Wickes now 1/2 mile down the road from B&Q in Norwich and I get 10% discount
Big mistake imho being associated with Shelter. An organisation who are very anti landlord and a furniture company who relies on landlords as a large part of their customer base. When running our well respected letting agency a few years ago we tried on numerous occasions to talk to Shelter to get assistance for some of our more vulnerable applicants. We were advised each time “we don’t speak with landlords or agencies”! My understanding is Shelter raised around £36m in 2021 … and never built one home, “we are an advice based charity”
If Shelter wanted to help tenants they would be eager to engage and speak with landlords, Shelter is a business paying their management very big salaries, they are also very left wing with the politics of envy
You've got to admit - Shelter are pretty good at getting companies to engage with them. First Direct is another. If only we, as landlords, were as effective at lobbying, perhaps we would get our message across better.
Maybe we should set up as a charity, it’s almost getting that way in the PRS!
Tricia
We are the banks customers and are a lot of them.
Take your custom elsewhere?
Wherever possible I do and write to CEOs as other suggest putting our point of view. We are a significant number & buy much more from these organisations than Shelter or the homeless!
I take a different viewpoint on this. I have no issue with big companies aligning themselves with Shelter.
The issue as I see it is not PRS Landlords but government policies and Bank of England blinkered thinking. Quite simply there is a problem with homelessness but has very little to do with the PRS, it is a separate entity.
That said Shelter need to better understand the rental market and why rental prices are increasing. Once this message gets through to them maybe they could do some positive moves in alignment with Landlords instead of alienating them.
The B of E are living in fantasy land currently. In the UK housing market 24.2 million homes have mortgages on them. Of this figure 2.4 million have variable rates. Therefore these base rate rises are affecting a small amount of mortgagees, and by the time it affects the rest inflation will be much lower. I guess they will start to lower rates then.
However, the damage will be done to so many smaller businesses whom loans will have increased in real time along with all their other costs.
Finally with the massive spike in fuel and energy prices, it has not been mentioned that the Government will have had a massive spike in profits due to the extra money they would have brought in through taxes on these costs. In simple terms they have the money to do more for housing people. Try building some hostels and homes for people.
Gordon Brown could not have been more wrong when he said an end to boom and bust. Politicians and the numpties in the Bank of England seem to have no idea of the real world.
Hi Andy - I agree with 99% of what you say and find your posts well informed and insightful but I think the issue with big businesses aligning themselves with Shelter is that it gives Shelter More visible “credence” with the public which I think is a bad think and bolsters their coffers which no doubt they will use in more adverts badmouthing Landlords
“The solution to this crisis is simple and it’s staring the government in the face: we must build a new generation of good quality social housing that people can actually afford to live in.”
Alternatively:
The solution to this crisis is simple and it’s staring the government in the face: we must stop over taxing PRS landlords and start treating them in the same way as every other business in the UK, so they can continue to provide the affordable, flexible housing options that people have enjoyed for the last 3 decades.
Social housing is theoretically OK apart from the fact no one wants to live next door to it and the ludicrously low rents make maintenance problematic for cash strapped Social landlords. The Right to Buy was invented because Local Authorities were virtually bankrupt in the 1980s and couldn't afford to maintain a crumbling housing stock.
I was a Council tenant in the 1980s and the housing wasn't great. Difficult to heat first floor flat, unfinished (no ground floor heating or garden fencing because they ran out of money) new build and dry rot riddled older house. I currently own 2 ex Council flats and trying to get the Council to deal with exterior maintenance is a constant battle. Simple, basic stuff can take years. I've been reporting water ingress for over 2 years, their surveyor has been out twice and agreed what needs to be done and yet it still hasn't been actioned.
Is this really what IKEA wants for it's customers?
Social housing it’s not okay, it costs billions in subsidies and is neither a proper business or a true landlord enterprise. It can’t deliver the tenant satisfaction rates that the PRS achieves or indeed the homes required.
'' Cash strapped social landlords'', sorry disagree there, Housing Assoc management on £300k to £400k a year, I don't call that cash strapped.
Funny IKEA coming out with this seeing as they were associated with companies in east Germany using slave labour of political prisoner. Now getting all political with us .
Couldn’t make it up
Only 18% have taken on extra work ? bone idle Britain, plenty of whingers but no interest in helping themselves, In the 70s I used to do evening and weekend shifts on the petrol pumps as well as my day job in the garage, I also used to service and repair peoples cars at home after work, that's how we got on then, in 1979 I bought my first run down property for cash and spent evenings / weekends and bank holidays renovating it, 2 years later I bought another one with a small bank loan, but of course it's okay for me I'm a boomer, maybe the entitled generation should try it
When I bought my first proper BTL in 1998 I was a single parent with a part time day job 3.5 days a week in the railway ticket office and full time night job as a self employed taxi driver 6 nights a week. I worked about 84 hours a week and had one day off a fortnight. Between 1993 and 1997 I'd been on Income Support. That was the really magical thing about this country. It was possible to go from claimant to self supporting business person in a very short space of time. Self cert and interest only mortgages helped speed things up. Maybe the system was less obsessed with helping FTBs and just let the market take care of itself? Back then hard work and taking risks could really pay off. Not sure the same is true today in this era of excessively high taxation and nanny state regulations.
Brilliant Andrew. I keep banging on about this too. I hear people saying .. “Ive had to take a second job”. Years ago I had 4 on the go at the same time to try and get on in life. Now the bone idle want a piece of that for nothing, makes my blood boil!
Shelter very effectively exploits the ‘emotive’ homelessness issue. Corporates and ill informed MPs are only too keen to ‘glow in the kudos’ of associating with a very visible national charity.
Less visible is their left wing, anti free market, pro socialist, anti capitalist agenda. Shelter will always be hostile to the PRS it’s in their DNA.
What is staggering is that MPs and major corporations are prepared to sell their founding principles to support them.
As an aside I found a really interesting utube blog - type go to utube and then /watch?v=yo-dwb_dj28 (this site will not let you post the link in full) and if you go to 13:13 into the video this chap gives some interesting figures re Shelter
In 2020/21
Approximately £67 M income
£18M from grants and contract much of t his Govt ie tax payer money
3.5M surplus
Polly Neat had salary of £128K and now nearer £140k
16m in reserves which is money they are sitting on and a balance of £26M
I posted some of this information under one of Shelter's facebook adverts and got blocked - perhaps there should be a club for all of us who have been blocked by shelter - we could have a badge and a T shirt!
If you struggle to find it look for Landlords flout “No DSS” tenant blanket ban despite ‘unlawful’ ruling by Judge by Charles Kelly Money Tips podcast
Anthony. They are not only effective at exploiting homeless issues but also very good at causing homelessness with all their anti-landlord policy’s.
They are not Elected Representatives so why were they invited into Parliamentary Select Committee to make those laws to create the homeless, no one asked us or Represented us who supply the properties
IKEA and B&Q support Shelter who let rogue tenants stay in our properties long after they should have been evicted.
Rogue tenants destroy property contents, especially kitchens, bathrooms and flat pack furniture.
IKEA and B & Q sell kitchens, bathrooms and flat pack furniture.
Perhaps we should report them for aiding and abetting theft and vandalism which helps grow their businesses?
Perhaps the Landlords' associations throughout the UK should pursue a private prosecution?
The publicity such a case would bring would be cheaper and more effective than advertising.
GB News would certainly run that story!
Connected but slightly off piste. Why are there so many homeless charities? Let’s just have one major player, cut out all the other overhead, admin, marketing and director/staffing costs? There could be millions more put back into actually building new homes rather than many advice centres. I’m no learned expert but worth a thought.
As said previously, Shelter alone raised £36.9 million pounds in 2021!
Charities are a boom industry. I completely agree with your point but would expand to other charities also.
I agree Andy, a friend once worked for Save The Children, he could tell the stories about what went on and where the money went, very few 'charities' out there deserve our donations now, mostly big business with management creaming the profits off, noises in troughs
Rather sadly I spoke to someone who worked for McMillan - I wanted to believe they do good work but a lot of it goes on hotels and jollies and often those in need cannot access their services. NO offence to anyone who has used them and had a great experience but this came from someone quite high up in management
Ikea do build houses - can just see them wanting a cut of Shelters millions!
I will boycott Ikea just for associated themselves with these parasites.
Polly says “With rents at an all-time high".
Yes Polly and you have done a hell of a lot to bring this about.
Landlords need a Boycott list and an effective campaign to educate Landlords, and the public about Shelter.
Any PR guru's out there up for the challenge ? ;-)
"A statement from IKEA says that “with a shortage in social housing, some families are finding themselves living in temporary accommodation for years, and are very often asked to move several times with short notice.” This makes my blood boil, how many times when we are being scapegoated do we see the words shortage in social housing. We are not the problem (we could be the cure), government and the charities need to address the real problem. Typical politics at work, when you are failing at something look for someone to blame and send the hate their way.
Landlords Estate’s probably one of their biggest donors, what a stitch up leave money to them and get yourself a tax break, if that’s not corruption what is.
Perhaps IKEA & B&Q are availing of this to reduce their
tax Bill.
With their businesses failing, (IKEA 2022 income down 50% from 2021) they are now reduced to selling political influence. Withdraw all support from b&q and IKEA immediately.
Christopher, yes that’s right shortage of housing and family’s had to move several times but we didn’t need IKEA to tell us what we already knew, a pity the Parents didn’t think of that before they took off their pants. I provided for and housed my own family not expecting other to keep me & my family. Why should I be responsible for them or their families.
Agreed Michael, I find it totally irresponsible of people to bring into this world a child that they are not prepared to care and provide for until they reach 18 (at least).
Andrew
Thought you put your kids to work at around 5?
PS. Same as me!
Andrew, so true but sometimes not only one child I seen them with 4 or five it ridiculous and hard working couples have 2 max, pay Nursery fees and Mortgages then get no Children Allowance that their taxes contribute to.
Micheal, l used to work in my father's butchers shop. Certainly from 10 probably earlier. Part time, running errands, cleaning etc. A male council tenant near to one of our properties, comes out to the garden to smoke, it's exhausting ! Goes shopping in a taxi. Another neighbour is too lazy to use the footpath on the front garden, so they walk across the lawn and through the hedge. Just trample everything down.
Edwin. At 7, I could milk a Cow by 12, I would milk 3 before walking to School & 4 in the evening, we had to do whatever required doing whether pick spuds, thin turnips, grate mangles, get the firewood or fetch the water with buckets, yes we didn’t have running water, electricity or gas not even portable. Basically the open fire done everything from boiling the kettle, the boiling dinner and baking bread in the oven pot or on bran & griddle. Wait till I see now I must feel sorry for all the poor people and the dozens I house who have Central heating and all the facilities they could ever want but I will get prosecuted if they don’t have hot water.
My goodness they haven’t a clue about real life. I could write some book this is your life.
Michael
I think you should write your book!
It would earn you more than a lifetime of hard work and could become a school text book once this current policy of feather bedding the snowflake generation is discredited, which will come when economic reality finally dawns on those who make the laws.
Hard work has always been needed for society to prosper but currently not enough hard work is being done by enough members of society.
I agree, it is all about expectations, and it has gone too far. Schools need to educate about real life as well as academia. For many to get on you need to put some serious graft in, and yes if you want to succeed it may well mean that you need to have 2 or 3 jobs for a period of time. I did, on my time off in the military I worked various jobs for agencies as well as bar work in the evening. By all means have expectations but you need to work damn hard. And while there at it teaching them this they should add responsibility and consequences. Far to often people make decisions that they then walk away from, unscathed.
But Andy who would teach them this in schools? I find teachers generally to be the worst offenders here, always whinging and always expecting to be given more
Agree, firstly you would need to teach the teachers.
Micheal
You are obviously one of those lrish grafters who have come here and done good through hard work ! Write the book, but you need support, it will take too long otherwise.
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