Former Shelter CEO to become Peer in House of Lords
6 months ago | 13 comments
Shelter releases Christmas campaign showing families trapped in temporary accommodation
12:01 AM, 6th November 2025, 6 months ago
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Shelter has released its Christmas advert for this year to showcase the temporary accommodation crisis.
The one-minute film, created by agency Don’t Panic specifically for Shelter, set to the song Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler, shows a young boy singing the ballad at school and on his way back home.
The boy then returns home and finds his mother on the phone, trying to get through to the accommodation service, with the song playing as the hold music on the line.
Families stuck in temporary accommodation
According to Shelter, this year a total of 84,240 families in England will wake up on Christmas Day in insecure temporary accommodation.
In a press release, the housing charity claims to have worked closely with people who have lived experience of temporary accommodation “to understand the true human cost of homelessness.”
The advert, directed by the director of the musical The Greatest Showman, Michael Gracey, claimed they decided to have the schoolboy sing acapella, rather than with a backing track, in order to stand out amongst other Christmas adverts.
The housing charity claims people are stuck in temporary accommodation with damp and mould and is asking people to donate.
Mairi MacRae, director of campaigns and policy at Shelter, said: “With genuinely affordable social homes in short supply, families often face months if not years in cramped, insecure temporary accommodation, with little or no support. Every day we hear from people, like the mother in this film, who are terrified of being stuck living in appalling conditions, watching as damp and mould climb the walls.
“No family should face homelessness alone. This Christmas, we’ll be doing everything possible to help parents fight for a better home for their children.”
Anti-tenant rather than pro-tenant
The housing charity has previously praised the Renters’ Rights Act as “a victory for renters,” but as previously reported on Property118, the reality could be very different.
Landlord organisation iHowz says the Renters’ Rights Act is “anti-tenant rather than pro-tenant” and will force landlords to leave the market, leaving only expensive, rental properties.
The full advert can be seen below
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Member Since August 2016 - Comments: 1190
9:34 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
Surely these people in temporary accommodation can be put up in hotels, they’re doing this all over the country. And if they don’t fancy hotel accommodation with three square meals a day thrown in, they can approach organisations like Serco, Clearsprings and Mears and be provided with free HMO accommodation. I really can’t see a problem here.
Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3538 - Articles: 5
10:04 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
“The housing charity claims people are stuck in temporary accommodation with damp and mould.”
If the council has put them in temp accommodation then its up to the Council to make sure it is not damp and mouldy.
Is the real issue about the fact that they are in TA, or that the TA is in a bad condition? Two different issues here really
Are they actually saying people should donate because the Councils can’t do their job on both these fronts?
It is me or is there a slightly less of a focus on the PRS being the bad guy (as the causes of eviction) and more of a focus now on the lack of adequate social housing as the problem? Do you think its actually dawned, that if more PRS LL exit, the closer the RRB gets to be implemented = the less supply there is/will be… and ergo the numbers in TA (and mouldy TA) will actually increase?
Are the Commy charities now turning on the master that funds them?
Member Since May 2015 - Comments: 2203 - Articles: 2
10:41 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
If, as Shelter claims, all the temporary accommodation is damp and mouldy, then surely it is better for these families to be housed in the private sector where only some of the accommodation is damp and mouldy?
Member Since January 2015 - Comments: 1447 - Articles: 1
10:59 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
And majority will still be there in 5 or even 10 years time as the PRS shrinks further, and priority is given to asylum seekers.
Shelter, Generation Rent et Al you have reaped for the homeless and others for what you have pushed for.
Member Since August 2016 - Comments: 1190
11:01 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Judith Wordsworth at 10:59
Sorry to be pedantic, they’re not asylum seekers they’re economic migrants trafficked into the U.K. from France (a safe country) by our Government. Why aren’t Shelter and Generation Rent complaining about the blatant discrimination in housing accommodation. Surely this discrimination is illegal ?
Member Since August 2016 - Comments: 1190
11:08 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
Here’s a thought can I advertise my rental properties as “sorry no asylum seekers” ? Don’t see why I can’t as Serco etc. only provide housing for asylum seekers nobody else.
Or, let’s reverse it, can I advertise “asylum seekers only” what would happen if I did that ?
Member Since February 2023 - Comments: 87
11:10 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
Shelter helped create this mess and still keep their hands in their pockets saving their money. Hotels for our people first and nothing for these inconsiderate law breakers
Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3538 - Articles: 5
11:38 AM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Dylan Morris at 06/11/2025 – 11:08
I don’t see why you can’t make clear what ‘categories’ of tenant you cannot offer a tenancy to, if you are bound by insurance obligations, or mortgage restrictions for example.
ie. I am unable to offer tenancies to asylum seekers, those with CCJ’s…..etc due to ……
The LL is NOT discriminating. They are advising they are unable to make offers as their would be in breach of their own contractual obligations.
Member Since February 2025 - Comments: 18
12:21 PM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
Well done to Shelter for supporting the 12-month vacancy rule due to a failed sale, which will ensure that vacant properties remain vacant and the homeless remain homeless.
Member Since June 2018 - Comments: 17
1:55 PM, 6th November 2025, About 6 months ago
The RRA has been responsible for so much of this. Under both this and the previous government.
I get there was substandard accom and some bad landlords but at least, for most of the country, there was decent affordable accommodation.
They have directly caused this change. Lack of accom and high rental costs.
Soon there will be whole swathes of towns, where I am, which are uneconomical to bring to EPC C, and will therefore no longer be marketable for rental.