Our House is not a Home

What is the definition of a home? For many people, it’s four walls and a roof over one’s head. But homelessness charity SHELTER is aiming to challenge this common misperception with a hard-hitting campaign revealing the grim realities of the temporary accommodation that thousands of families are stuck in. Many people are stuck in accommodation that is mould-infested, cramped, noisy and devoid of basic facilities for cooking, heating or washing, they may be houses - but they’re certainly not homes.

Created by DUDE London and supported by HSBC UK, the new campaign - Our House is not a Home - cleverly hijacks pop and ska band Madness’ 1982 hit, Our House - written by Chris Foreman and Cathal Smyth - , to highlight the impact and injustice of the UK’s housing emergency and how poor and unsafe living conditions are impacting people’s futures, in particular children.
Launching today [3 September], the campaign is led by a music video juxtaposing the unchanged lyrics of Our House - which evokes a sense of nostalgic optimism in the original version of the song - with stark new visuals to paint a bleak experience of families living in temporary accommodation, aka the housing that local councils provide to people or families experiencing homelessness.

Hauntingly set to a stripped-down acoustic arrangement of the Madness track, the 60-second film which was shot on film was directed by Milo Blake through Spindle. It depicts a family of five living in assigned temporary accommodation - a damp, overcrowded, noisy place that no-one could ever call a home - and their attempts to maintain a ‘normal’, family environment in spite of challenges such as no heating or privacy.
Lines such as ‘Father wears his Sunday best’ and ‘Sister’s sighing in her sleep’ are overlaid on scenes of dad attempting to spray black mould off the ceiling and a young girl forced to share a bed with her siblings, as sirens blare and neighbours argue through the walls. The hard-hitting film makes references to the fact that temporary accommodation arrangements often last for months or years, with households moved from place to place at short notice, negatively affecting education, work, health, community, and finances.

The campaign is supported by HSBC UK. HSBC UK and Shelter are working in partnership to help people and families across the UK build financial resilience – support that can make a real difference when the unexpected happens.

Spanning TV, online video and social, the campaign aims to raise awareness and drive donations by igniting a national conversation about what truly makes a house a home - and potentially bring Our House back into the charts after a 42 year hiatus.