The ‘Unwelcome Home’ Doll’s House

Over 150,000 children are homeless in temporary accommodation in England. Many families have spent months and even years living in damp, infested, cramped, overcrowded and unsafe conditions. IKEA and its long-term partner Shelter are campaigning to call on the government to commit to building 90,000 social rent homes a year for 10 years, to tackle the housing emergency and help families out of temporary accommodation. Together, IKEA and Shelter unveiled the Unwelcome Home – reimagining IKEA’s doll’s house to reflect the grim realities of the conditions thousands of children experience in temporary accommodation.

Our campaign, and the elevation of IKEA’s partnership with Shelter, was designed to focus political attention on children in temporary accommodation. The launch of the campaign and the installation at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool delivered that with over 12,000 signatures on our Open Letter to the Child Poverty Taskforce (target of 10,000). Across our integrated media campaign, we achieved 500+ pieces of coverage across broadcast and online media incl BBC News Online, ITV News Online and The Big Issue. In Liverpool, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, attended the stand as well as the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP. 25+ MPs visited the stand joining our call to action to building 90,000 new social homes a year including the new Chair of the Housing Select Committee, Florence Eshalomi MP.