IKEA and its national charity partner, Shelter, have today launched ‘Real Life Roomsets’ in four IKEA stores, alongside new research that reveals public opinion around the housing emergency in the UK.
According to the research, one in five (21%) adults in the UK are worried about losing their home, with half (49%) saying if they lost their current home, they would struggle to find somewhere else to live. In the past year in order to keep up with their housing costs, 18% of adults in the UK say they have taken on additional work, 17% have skipped meals and a further quarter (25%) would consider it.
One in every 208 people in England is currently experiencing homelessness2, with thousands more likely to lose their homes by the end of the year as a result of the cost of living crisis. Together, IKEA and Shelter have created ‘Real Life Roomsets’ to raise awareness of this issue and highlight the real living conditions of those who are forced into temporary accommodation as a result.
The roomsets, which are a stark contrast to those found in IKEA’s famously inspiring and well-designed showrooms, are based on real stories of people local to the stores involved. Each roomset highlights the cramped, dangerous, and grotty spaces that an increasing number of people who are experiencing homelessness are forced to experience when living in temporary accommodation.
Temporary accommodation (which can take the form of emergency hostels, B&Bs, one room bedsits and cramped flats) is provided by councils to qualifying families who are experiencing homelessness and is designed to be just that: temporary. However, 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 notice3.
‘Real Life Roomsets’ comes as part of IKEA and Shelter’s campaign demanding for 90,000 social homes to be built a year by 2030 to help address the housing emergency, which 59% of adults in the UK believe is worse than ever.
IKEA is also joining Shelter’s campaign to amend the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill with a new Infrastructure Levy, to ensure all new truly affordable homes are social housing.
The four roomsets are located in IKEA stores near cities experiencing some of the worst levels of homelessness in the country4:
London: where 1 in 58 people are experiencing homelessness
Manchester: where 1 in 74 people are experiencing homelessness
Birmingham: where 1 in 80 people are experiencing homelessness
Bristol: where 1 in 183 people are experiencing homelessness
The stories being told as part of the campaign include Sam’s, from London, whose story is told in IKEA’s Hammersmith store:
After a relationship breakdown, Sam and her three children found themselves homeless and placed in a hostel that wasn’t appropriate.
After seven weeks of living alone in her car while her children stayed with a friend, Sam was eventually placed in temporary accommodation, but it was out of her area and too far away from her children’s schools so they had to move to live with their dad.
Sam was assaulted on two occasions while living in her temporary accommodation. Her temporary accommodation had black mould, and due to a hole in her front door where the letter box should have been, there was an overriding smell of cannabis constantly throughout the flat. The stress of the situation meant that Sam had to take leave from work, and she worries what the long-term impact will be of her not being able to care for her children during this time.
