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2024-03-31-accounts

SHELTER ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2023124

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Introduction

Helen Baker – Chair

As I write my final introduction to a Shelter Annual Report, traditionally a place to reflect on one year’s achievements, I have also been reflecting on the scale of organisational change across the six years I have been Chair and how this has made possible so much of the work outlined in this report.

From its foundations, Shelter has recognised homelessness as more than just people sleeping on the streets but, also including those living in poor conditions and precarious situations because of insecure tenancies or unaffordability. Still today, too many people have no permanent home, there is a chronic lack of good quality social housing, private renters face increasingly unaffordable rents, and poor conditions proliferate across the housing system. The system also perpetuates injustice. Disabled people, refugees, and people of colour are more likely to face discrimination in housing. Women, and particularly single mothers and their children, are disproportionately likely to find themselves trapped for far too long in unsuitable temporary accommodation which can’t reasonably be called a home.

I joined Shelter as the organisation was preparing a bold strategy, calling out the scale of the problems in housing as a national emergency which required a fundamental change in policy and structures, both nationally and locally, and corresponding fundamental change in Shelter itself. Since then, we have adopted new approaches aiming to address the systemic causes of housing injustice. Across both nations, our community hubs have been transformed from advice centres into catalysts for change, working with communities, people living through the worst of the housing emergency, activists, and a rapidly growing range of partner

organisations, to challenge the local failures highlighted and inform powerful national campaigns.

Shelter’s legal expertise has been mobilised in new ways, using strategic litigation to change the law and challenge gatekeeping by local authorities and the discriminatory practices targeted at disabled people and those in receipt of benefits.

We have invested significant time and resources in changing the organisation’s culture at every level, returning Shelter to the activism on which we were founded now firmly centred on antiracism, equity, and inclusion. Externally, this was reflected in the development and launch of our new brand as a rallying point for the movement of supporters and partners we have built and the coalitions we work with to influence and campaign for change.

We have worked to strengthen organisational governance and controls, taking the time to learn lessons and to increase our ability to understand, drive and evidence Shelter’s impact. This has enabled us to become far more agile in our response to the significant challenges of the environment we work within, capable of delivering change at pace whilst still holding to the defining principles of our strategy.

We have seen many examples of the fruits of all this effort over the past year. These have included:

Reinforcing rights - Across 2023/4 Shelter directly supported 49,041 people through our emergency helpline and webchat as well as our communitybased teams. As demand has increased, we have shared our knowledge of housing rights through community workshops and trained staff in other organisations so that more individuals and families at the sharp end of the housing emergency have had their rights upheld.

General Election - During 2023/24 Shelter worked with people with lived experience of housing injustice from across the country whose proposed

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solutions to the housing emergency were central to the development of our election manifesto. This manifesto outlined a clear plan of action to build more social homes and make renting both affordable and safe as the only long term and sustainable way to turn the rising tide of homelessness.

Over the election period thousands of people supported our manifesto and pushed housing higher up the political agenda. The new government has now promised real change, including a strategy to end homelessness and the ‘ biggest increase in social housing in a generation.’ That change must happen quickly, and Shelter will maintain the pressure on this.

Policy and legislation - We successfully campaigned for big changes to the way social housing is managed and maintained. Parliament passed the longawaited Social Housing Regulation Bill into legislation, improving safety and living conditions for millions. Although the Renters Reform Bill did not pass before the general election, the new government recently set out in the Kings Speech a new Renters Rights Bill which is a fresh start at reforming private renting, making it safer, secure, and more affordable. Shelter will continue campaigning to ensure those promises are delivered.

Housing Emergency Declaration - World Homelessness Day 2023 saw the launch of our Housing Emergency Campaign in Scotland. This campaign aimed to show everyone in Scotland how the Housing Emergency affects them and inspire them to demand change. During the year, several local authorities declared a Housing Emergency, culminating in the Scottish Government declaring a National Housing Emergency in May 2024. Shelter Scotland will continue pressuring the government to develop an action plan that responds to the record levels of homelessness and the falling numbers of new social homes being delivered.

My tenure as Chair has been marked by major change across the country and the world. I have seen Shelter thrive despite a pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, and increasing polarisation across societies. It is thanks to the clarity of Shelter’s purpose, strategy, and ambition that we have still been able to focus our resources and continue to build the breadth of our impact.

At the centre of that success, however, are the extraordinary colleagues - staff, volunteers, and trustees – who have stepped up together with resilience and determination in the face of all the demands this year has brought. We are profoundly grateful to them all for their vision, hard work, and commitment. We owe particular thanks to those with direct experience of the housing emergency who so powerfully help to shape our services and inspire our campaigns. Thank you also to the communities in which we work and to all the funders, supporters, and campaigners who have worked alongside us over the past year in our fight for home.

Safe and secure housing, affordable rents, and a humane housing system should not be utopian ambitions. Shelter will not stop either locally or nationally until they are a reality for everyone.

Helen Baker Chair of Trustees

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What is the housing emergency?

Shelter was formed in 1966 in response to the country’s massive housing crisis. Shelter’s founders wanted to establish an organisation that stood up for the millions of ‘hidden homeless’ living in overcrowded slums. They understood homelessness as more than just people sleeping on the streets. They recognised that it included people living without a permanent home, and those living in poor conditions and precarious situations because of insecure tenancies or unaffordability.

The housing emergency today affects 17.5 million people, denied a safe and stable home. That includes thousands sleeping on the streets on any given night and over a quarter of a million people stuck in temporary accommodation. It also encompasses millions more living in overcrowded, dangerous, unfit or unaffordable homes.

The housing system is broken. Successive governments have failed to provide the good quality, stable social housing people need, leaving millions shut out and struggling to find a secure home. People are crammed into unsafe housing – places riddled with mould or damp that makes them sick. Private renting lacks regulation, leaving renters facing insecurity, living with the threat of unfair eviction and unsustainably high rents. And when people do struggle, our welfare system is too weak to support them.

What we do

Shelter exists to defend the right to a safe home. Every year, we help those who are struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. We campaign to make sure that one day, the right to a home exists for everyone.

Key objectives

Shelter was set up in 1966 to:

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Our strategy

2023/24 was the second year of our three-year strategic plan, which forms part of a longer 10-year strategy running from 2019 – 2029.

With growing inequality, hardship, fear and social division, our goals are even more urgent, and the stakes are getting higher. The only answer to the housing emergency is sustained investment in high quality, secure homes that people on low incomes can afford to rent.

We have three ambitious goals we’d like to reach by 2025 across Shelter and Shelter Scotland:

A new generation of social homes

Housing rights – right now

A shift of power in our fight for home

We now look at each area, and report on what we’ve achieved over 2023/24.

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A new generation of social homes

Social housing has historically been a key part of a housing system that relies on different types of homes to buy and rent. And so, the failure to build social homes has caused problems throughout the system. These include:

As more people are exposed to homelessness due to the cost-of-living crisis, social homes are the only permanent solution to the housing emergency.

In Scotland, the first step is to make sure that there are homes for people where they are needed most. By 2029, we want everyone who needs social housing to have it. To bring us closer to that vision, we must first address those waiting in temporary accommodation, which has devastating effects on individuals, affecting education, family life, health and job prospects. By 2025, we want everyone in temporary accommodation to have access to a social home, quickly, and where they need it.

In England, we have been campaigning for that new generation of social homes nationally and locally. For example, in Manchester, the hub team have joined a

coalition of community associations, charities, think tanks, academics and social justice organisations focused on accelerating the number of social homes created in Manchester by 2030 and ensuring this is done in an environmentally sustainable way. The coalition group is focusing on six key proposals:

This approach, of working in coalition with local community groups and Shelter’s Policy Team, provides a real opportunity to not only demand a new generation of social homes, but also make that vision a reality.

In addition, in England, we believe we have successfully influenced the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act during its progress through the parliamentary process. To deliver this change, thousands of Shelter’s supporters lobbied members of the House of Lords, showing that we can use public campaigning to achieve change, even on difficult issues like planning reform.

After years of campaigning, the government voted through an amendment to make land cheaper for

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councils to build social housing by reforming rules around compulsory purchase, so they don't have to pay 'hope value'.

Housing rights

The housing system has changed since there was any major change to housing rights. Home ownership and the number of social homes have fallen, and there has been a significant increase in the number of households renting privately. This dramatic change has left more and more families struggling with damaging levels of instability and high housing costs. With increasing rents, and wages that have not kept up. Private renters have on average the highest weekly housing costs. Whilst the low-regulation private renting market creates flexibility, to huge numbers of households that flexibility simply means insecurity. Those renting privately struggle to save and often live under the constant threat of eviction as contracts and tenancies provide no long-term security.

Renters Reform Bill

Over the past year, we built mass public pressure to get the Conservative Government to bring forward the longawaited Renters Reform Bill with over 137,000 joining our campaign. In the face of huge opposition, we challenged backbench Conservative MPs to live up to their election manifesto promises and finally scrap ‘no fault’ evictions. The Bill progressed through Parliament securing it’s third reading, until the General Election was called. Our campaigning across the General Election, and the first 100 days of the new Parliament, ensured a Renters Rights Bill was quickly announced by the incoming Labour government which echoed our demands for an immediate end to ‘no fault’ evictions, a ban on ‘no DSS’ income discrimination, and the creation of a robust landlord register. Our job now is to finally get renters’ rights into the statute book and fix renting for good.

Social Housing Regulation

Following successful campaigning to achieve the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 last summer, we’ve continued this year to work with Grenfell United and the family of Awaab Ishak (the toddler who died after exposure to mould in his Rochdale home) to campaign for the Act’s robust implementation.

The new regulatory regime for registered providers of social housing (such as councils and housing associations) started on 1 April 2024. This sets new consumer standards for social homes, for example on safety and quality. It also requires the Regulator of Social Housing to plan regular inspections to check for systemic breaches of the standards and to take tough enforcement action to address systemic failings.

This year, in responding to consultations by the government and the Regulator of Social Housing, we’ve demanded the regulator sets tenant-focused consumer standards and consults with tenants when inspecting housing providers. We’ve pushed for the new Competence and Conduct Standard to make sure senior housing management staff and their contractors are professionally qualified and competent to manage homes. This standard will hopefully be introduced in 2024.

We’ve also campaigned for tough new regulations to implement ‘Awaab’s Law’, setting strict timescales for housing providers to respond to reports of serious health and safety hazards, such as damp and mould or fire safety. This must ensure there are no further fatalities following tenant complaints. The ‘Awaab’s Law’ regulations will hopefully come into force in 2024. Finally, in response to its review of civil legal aid, we’ve demanded the government fully restores legal aid for housing disrepair cases, so that tenants living in substandard homes can make use of the new legislation to get swift

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action, through help with taking their landlords to court.

We’ll continue to work with social tenant campaigners to ensure tough enforcement by the Regulator and Housing Ombudsman Service where standards are breached. To make sure tenants are safe, we’re campaigning for the next government to invest in new social homes to get tenants out of poor conditions (such as severe overcrowding) and to allow existing social homes to be brought up to standard.

Local Housing Allowance

In November 2023, we won an end to the four-year housing benefit freeze. A total of 1.7 million low-income private renters rely on housing benefit to keep a roof over their heads. But as rents skyrocketed, the government had chosen to keep frozen the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), which sets the amount of housing benefit private renters receive, based on rents in 2019. This was fuelling soaring homelessness.

We joined forces with campaigner Vicky, who wrote to then-Chancellor Jeremy Hunt asking for a meeting to explain how ending the freeze would help homeless families like hers get out of temporary accommodation and find proper homes. Over 30,000 Shelter supporters signed Vicky’s letter. A further 10,000 wrote to their MP demanding an end to the freeze. We also worked with our Hubs in Merseyside and Bournemouth to show local MPs the impact of the freeze on their constituents. All of this action helped to put the issue at the top of the political agenda and made the government listen to our calls to unfreeze housing benefit. At the Autumn Statement (November 2023), the then Chancellor announced that LHA will be put back in line with rents so that it covers the cheapest 30% of local homes. This will be a massive relief to millions of private renters and should start bringing down the number of people who are

homeless living in temporary accommodation.

General Election

Much of 2023/24 was spent planning our General Election campaign, which launched in the autumn of 2023 ahead of the party conferences. We wanted to use the opportunity presented by the election to ensure that the housing emergency was one of the top issues political parties focused on in their manifestoes and in their vision for the country’s future.

Ahead of the launch, we developed our own manifesto of solutions to the housing emergency, based on a deliberative research process that worked with people across the country who had been directly affected by the housing emergency.

The manifesto was published with launch events at three party conferences where Ministers and Shadow Ministers heard directly from people with lived experience. We created a supporter action to call on politicians to engage with Shelter. Since the start of the campaign, we engaged with a wide range of political stakeholders on our key calls, including Ministers, Mayors, parliamentary candidates including many future MPs.

As the campaign progressed, we also widened our political approach, supporting staff in our Hubs to meet with election candidates and hold a range of hustings and other events to highlight the change in housing policy we need in communities across the country.

By the time the election was announced at the end of May, we – and our supporters – were ready to tell political candidates that people would be ‘voting for home’ in the general election. As well as the nearly 40,000 signatures gathered for an open letter to party leaders, our supporters campaigned in their local areas across England. This included

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asking candidates what they would do to end the housing emergency.

We were the first charity with a digital action allowing supporters to email their prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs). Before polling day, our campaigners had contacted key PPCs in every single constituency in England.

We’re starting to see the impact of our campaigning with the new Labour Government announcing legislation to tackle the housing emergency (Renters Rights Bill) and policies intended to increase social housing supply.

In Scotland

Despite initial government commitments, the housing capital budget for 2023/24 was cut by 16%, threatening social housing delivery targets. In 2023, we campaigned to keep social housing a priority amid rising homelessness, particularly among children. August statistics revealed record numbers of homeless children and prolonged stays in inadequate temporary housing.

Warnings from multiple authorities about a failing housing system spurred us to stress the urgent need for investment in social housing. We criticised the government for lacking effective strategies and funding, particularly with the rise of child homelessness and local services failing to meet legal obligations.

A national housing emergency

On World Homeless Day in October 2023, we launched the Housing SOS campaign, rallying the public to demand government action on the housing emergency and for it to commit to bringing forward a Housing Emergency Action Plan for the 10,000 children trapped in temporary accommodation.

We asked citizens to sign an open letter calling on former First Minister Humza Yousaf to declare a national housing emergency. A total of 10,000 of them did. Stacey, a Shelter Scotland client, delivered the letter, highlighting the reallife impact of homelessness and housing insecurity, urging immediate action to protect children and combat poverty. We also ran targeted local activities and worked in partnership with local authorities to address the crisis and encourage them to declare local housing emergencies.

The Housing SOS campaign gained significant momentum, four local authorities declared housing emergencies in the 2023/24 financial year, alongside the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland and the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

Edinburgh: Despite years of advocacy with the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) housing teams, a more radical approach was needed by 2023. Edinburgh is facing record homelessness, a shortage of social homes and rising private rents, with around 5,000 households in temporary accommodation. We urged the CEC to declare a housing emergency to highlight the severity of the issue and seek more support from the Scottish government.

Our local Housing SOS campaigning educated the public about Edinburgh's housing emergency, sharing stories and insights from our frontline teams, and engaging with stakeholders and the media, including BBC radio and major newspapers. On 2 November 2023, the council's housing convener tabled a motion to declare a housing emergency, supported by public pressure from hundreds of emails from our supporters. The emails were mentioned multiple times in the Scottish Parliament’s Chamber.

The motion passed, resulting in the first local declaration of a housing emergency by the CEC, which committed to delivering an emergency response to

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address the crisis. This marked a significant step towards acknowledging and tackling Edinburgh's housing issues, driven by our advocacy and public support.

Debate in Scottish Parliament: In midNovember 2023, after extensive engagement but still much earlier than we had expected, a motion to declare a national housing emergency in Scotland made it to the Chamber. We emailed all our Scotland campaigners a day before the debate and asked them to apply pressure to their MSPs. This saw around 4,000 emails sent to MSPs in under a day, which was mentioned in the debate. The declaration was not made, which was a missed opportunity.

Glasgow: At the end of November, we welcomed Glasgow City Council’s declaration of a housing emergency. In a deputation to the City Administration Committee, Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson shared insights and evidence from the housing frontline as she told councillors that thousands of children in Scotland’s largest city cannot wait for action. Shelter Scotland supporters piled on the pressure and the declaration was passed.

Fife: In late March 2024, Fife Council followed the example of Edinburgh, and Glasgow declaring a housing emergency. The council acknowledged that like other local authorities across Scotland, it is now facing difficulties in meeting its statutory duties regarding homelessness and will collaborate with partners to bring forward a Housing Emergency Action Plan.

Looking forward

Renters Rights Bill

Once the election was called, the Renters Reform Bill was not progressed any further. During our election campaign, as well as in the first weeks of a new government, we campaigned

strongly to ensure a Bill was brought forward to provide security and affordability in the private rented sector. In July 2024, the Renters Rights Bill was announced in the King’s Speech. The coming year will be a critical one for ensuring that political commitments are acted upon, and politicians prioritise ending the housing emergency – particularly action to ensure delivery of the 90,000 social homes a year we need. Shelter has planned a ‘100 days campaign’ to ensure that the new government takes swift action to end the housing emergency.

Made in Social Housing

In May 2024, we launched a major campaign, Made in Social Housing , which celebrates the positive impact of social homes. In addition to accompanying content, such as explainers, and research focusing on the benefits of social homes, we worked with well-known celebrities and everyday (but no less extraordinary) people to talk about the impact social housing has had on them.

The campaign delivered millions of impressions across TV, video on demand, social media and display ads. It also engaged tens of thousands of the people who signed up to our campaigning ask and/or shared their own meaningful stories of living in social housing. A full evaluation of outcomes and impact is in progress.

Anti-racism

One part of our anti-racism journey at Shelter is our commitment to undertaking research and analysis on race and housing. Working alongside peer researchers (those who are experts by experience) we will publish work on racial discrimination and social housing allocations. We have also commissioned an agency to carry out analysis of the accessibility of Shelter’s own services. This will be completed in the coming year.

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Shelter Scotland

In Scotland, we continue to campaign for a national housing strategy and for the actions needed to end the shame of 10,000 children trapped in temporary accommodation and reduce the record levels of homelessness across the country.

Working in partnership with allies in the social justice and housing sector, Shelter Scotland will bring forward proposals for immediate action that can deliver ahead of the 2026 Scottish election.

Shelter Scotland will build on the thousands of supporter actions that secured local housing emergency declarations to mobilise supporters to call on every MP from Scotland to champion the reconnecting of the UK benefits system with the real cost of housing, and advocate for increased capital investment in the homes we need.

Shelter Scotland will continue to work in partnership with local authorities to address the structural solutions to driving up the supply of social homes. This includes making best use of empty homes through the work of the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership, funded by the Scottish government, and hosted by Shelter Scotland.

Shelter Scotland will continue to make the case that housing is a human right and will support the introduction of new social and economic rights legislation that will enshrine the UN Right to Adequate Housing in Scots law.

To achieve our policy and change objectives, we will continue to place the voices of people with lived experience, especially those who bear the brunt of the emergency such as People of Colour and disabled people.

Our Theory of Change relies not just on turning the evidence from our services

into deliverable policy changes but also on the influencing of politicians by our supporters. We will work together to place supporters first in all our engagement, and work to provide more opportunities to act, donate, volunteer and be a champion for change.

Case study: Making an empty house a home

The Scottish Empty Homes Partnership (SEHP) is funded by the Scottish government and hosted by Shelter Scotland. Its remit is to support the Scottish government’s commitment to bring empty homes back into use as affordable housing. This can be a quick and cost-effective way of increasing housing supply and can play an important role in helping to address Scotland’s housing emergency.

The number of homes brought back to use in 2023/24 was 1,875, the highest annual figure since the partnership began in 2010. The total now stands at 10,889 homes.

To put these achievements into context, it took the first three years of the partnership to bring 100 homes back into use. It then took some three years for this to increase to 1,000.

The partnership’s value has been recognised in the independent empty homes audit carried out on behalf of the Scottish government. It noted that ‘the most effective means of bringing properties back into use is through an EHO (empty homes officer) being employed to prioritise empty homes action’ and that ‘it is clear, that this would not have been achieved without SEHPs support and influencing role.’ Although we’ve made some great achievements, we know more can be done.

Several local authorities expanded their empty homes service in 2023/24 with

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the appointment of additional officers. We’ll continue to encourage more local authorities to use the revenue generated through the surcharge on second homes and long-term empty homes to employ extra officers, and to consider grants and loans to help owners bring properties back into use as affordable housing.

The additional resources and legislation will help to increase the number of empty homes returned to use, and help to tackle the housing emergency over the next year and beyond.

Day of Activism

To mark World Homelessness Day on 10 October 2023, Shelter and Shelter Scotland held a successful ‘Day of Activism’ where over 500 staff and volunteers joined together to campaign across more than 30 geographical locations and online. The campaign aimed to draw attention to the housing emergency, asking members of the public and decision-makers to join our fight for home.

Activities included stalls to talk to members of the public about Shelter’s work. There were rallies in town and city centres, public poetry readings, murals and dedicated Shelter shop windows, plus online actions.

The Day of Activism was a great opportunity to connect colleagues with each other and with our local and national campaigning work. Feedback from people who took part indicated that 81% felt a greater sense of belonging, 90% shared that it was a great way to connect with colleagues and 76% came away with a better understanding of our campaigns.

In England, the Day of Activism also helped us launch our General Election campaign with good supporter engagement and positive feedback from stakeholders and decision-makers.

Telephone and online advice services

Shelter’s Telephone and Online Advice Service (TOAS) runs in England and Scotland, supporting and equipping individuals with the information they need to fight housing injustice, ensuring they are able to assert their rights.

Our telephone and online advice services are uniquely positioned to gather data on the housing emergency from across England and Scotland. They give us the ability to understand the issues people are facing and inform our activities.

As the housing emergency in Scotland has intensified, we’ve seen an 11% year on year increase in people seeking our advice. The complexity of cases and vulnerability of users has grown, necessitating longer and more follow-up calls. This has led to more safeguarding and welfare concerns, particularly around mental health, impacting the wellbeing of TOAS staff. We’ve implemented support measures for advisers, such as training and reflective practice sessions.

TOAS advisers are also increasingly involved in advocating for the rights of homeless people to access legally entitled accommodation, as local authorities struggle to meet their obligations.

The TOAS team's focus on data insights has been crucial in understanding and communicating the impact of the housing emergency on Scottish communities, and the evidence means we can advocate for change.

In England, we dedicated resource to developing technology that will help prioritise access to our online advice service according to the level of urgency. This will become operational for users of the webchat service in Autumn of 2024. We have adjusted the remit of our

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telephone service to prioritise calls according to the level of urgency. This changed was implemented in late 2023.

We also increased the promotion of our Helpline as an emergency service, resulting in emergency calls making up an increased number of all telephone contacts, rising to a proportion of 80%.

We continued to refine our digital advice content, delivering 6.5 million user sessions. * A total of 91% of these users had their information needs either fully or partially met. Continued improvement to our digital user journeys remains a critical part in our strategy to reduce the number of non-urgent enquiries into our Helpline.

Next year in England we will be implementing a new One Advice and Advocacy model, combining our national helpline with community based and expert legal teams. Focusing on discrimination as a key priority.

* A digital user session is measured by a user viewing at least two web pages for greater than 10 seconds or performing another activity like clicking a link or scrolling.

Case study: How Helpline made Ben feel at home

Ben contacted our Helpline for advice when he received notice from the court that his landlord had obtained a bailiff’s warrant. Ben was due to be evicted in just under a month’s time.

Ben spoke to Laura at Shelter’s Helpline, who heard that he had accrued rent arrears following a relationship breakdown and that this was the second time his landlord had been to court. Ben had previously been ordered to pay his rent plus £70 per month, but shortly afterwards he experienced a mental health crisis and was signed off sick from work. That meant he couldn’t keep up with the payments.

When Ben contacted us, he was back in work and earning good money. Ben could afford his rent but due to his earnings, he didn’t qualify for Legal Aid to help with the court proceedings. Ben didn’t know where to turn. Laura made a referral to Helpline Plus for support with the court proceedings and suggested that Ben contact StepChange to arrange a ‘Breathing Space’, which would prevent the warrant being enforced for 60 days.

Martha, Ben’s caseworker on Helpline Plus, contacted the court to let them know that Ben was in a Breathing Space moratorium and ask them to confirm the warrant would not be executed. She checked over the court paperwork and helped Ben to complete a financial statement, which showed he could now afford to pay his rent plus a reasonable amount towards the arrears. Martha contacted Ben’s landlord to explain the situation. They agreed to accept the repayment offered and confirmed that they would not apply for a further warrant, provided the payments were made as promised.

Ben says: ‘Thank you so, so much for all your help and support. You truly have been amazing, and have helped me in ways you’

Legal services and strategic litigation

In England

Our aim is to provide legal advice and representation to clients to tackle a variety of serious housing issues, where clients face proceedings in the courts and are affected by the housing emergency. This includes early intervention under the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service, funded by the Legal Aid Agency, aimed at avoiding escalation of legal issues to court. We offer representation at the court duty scheme, where thousands of people face the loss of their homes each day across

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the country. The scheme has been dramatically impacted by the Covid pandemic as the courts work to clear the backlog of cases from then. Our teams have seen overwhelming pressure on the courts as the frontline of the housing emergency.

Our Legal Service has launched super complaints and legal challenges against local authorities to address barriers clients face. Our legal experts also working closely with Policy and Research teams, advising on key policy and campaign initiatives such as the Renters Reform Bill.

During the 2023/24 financial year the Legal Service consolidated its teams in London, centralised back-office functions and streamlined processes to be more efficient. We will continue to focus on defending the right to a safe home and enforce housing rights.

In Scotland

In 2023/24, the Shelter Scotland Housing Law Service observed an increase in housing emergencies and cost-of-living crises, notably a rise in eviction cases. The team successfully resolved 91% of these complex cases, which involved high arrears, challenging financial situations, vulnerable clients and issues with property conditions. There was also a significant increase in breaches of homelessness rights, particularly in Glasgow. This issue arose from Glasgow City Council's decision to reduce temporary accommodation in June 2023. In response, the Strategic Litigation team initiated a judicial review process, leading to a reversal of the council's decision and an acknowledgment of duties under the Equality Act, positively impacting those initially denied accommodation.

Permission was also granted to appeal to the UK Supreme Court in a case from Govan Law Centre. Shelter Scotland supported this appeal to address whether temporary accommodation must meet the specific needs of

households to be deemed suitable. The Inner House of the Court of Session had ruled that only general needs had to be considered, complicating access to suitable housing for people with disabilities, mental health issues, those recovering from addiction, and survivors of domestic violence. The UK Supreme Court is expected to consider this case in late 2024 or 2025, potentially leading to significant changes in housing law.

Case study: The mother of all legal wins

In England

Through our casework we identify system failures and bad housing conditions, and we seek to defend homes.

The Legal team have been increasingly using ‘super-complaints’ to address systemic poor practice. An example of this is in Birmingham where 4,950 households are in temporary accommodation. Their average time in a bed and breakfast is 22 weeks, which is unlawful. This is a systemic issue that we are looking to address through a supercomplaint against Birmingham City Council to end the unlawful policy.

Meanwhile, our Bristol team acted following insights gathered from our targeted casework about systemic poor practices at the council by issuing a complaint to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman. Their investigation led to a critical report on, among other things, the authority’s (systemic) failure to properly complete housing needs assessments, a statutory requirement. This resulted in people moving to multiple unsuitable properties causing considerable disruption and distress.

Our Strategic Litigation team have been actively involved in advising on regulations concerning permitted

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development rights, particularly focusing on the conversion of commercial buildings into residential use. Additionally, we are dedicated to influencing fitness for habitation standards, engaging with policy advisers from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) to assess current standards, identify gaps, and propose improvements. Furthermore, our efforts extend to identifying legal grounds of discrimination and other relevant characteristics concerning the receipt of welfare benefits. Through these initiatives, we aim to ensure fair and equitable access to housing and social support for all individuals.

hearings, leading to a final court order for eviction.

Shelter Scotland's Housing Law Service intervened, lodging a reponing note – which can be lodged in court on behalf of a client to reopen a case – just days before the scheduled eviction. The Housing Law Service represented the client in court, securing a pause in the case for legal aid to be granted. The intervention prevented the eviction and allowed the client to remain in her home.

Rose Arnall, a solicitor in the Strategic Litigation team, had her work recognised after client Lexi Levans was awarded the Sheila McKechnie Foundation Award for Family Discrimination in Renting at the SMK Family Campaigner Awards 2024. This related to the landmark win against discriminatory landlords and letting agents who issue blanket bans against renting to tenants with children. The Property Ombudsman found that bans such as these on renting to families are in breach of the equality rules laid out in its Code of Practice because the ‘no kids’ ban disproportionately affects women. Since the decision, any letting agent who is a member of the Property Ombudsman scheme will not be able to include blanket bans in property listings – or follow a landlord's orders to – without reasonable evidence or justification.

In Scotland

A long-term tenant with a Scottish Secure Tenancy since the 1980s was facing eviction due to more than £10,000 in rent arrears and multiple sequestrations. She called Shelter Scotland's Helpline. Despite being employed, the client was struggling due to personal challenges, including bereavement and addiction. Fearing judgement, she had not engaged with her housing provider or attended court

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2023/24 in numbers

In the last year, we helped over 20,000 households through our emergency Helplines (15,975 in England and 4,259 in Scotland). Of those calls:

England Scotland
55% 32%were homeless or at high risk of homelessness
42% 38%were in the Private Rented Sector
27% 23%wanted to keep their current home
27% 18%
needed temporary accommodation
12% 11%
were seeking to improve their circumstances by leaving their
current home
57% 56%were female
32% 30%had dependants

Our webchat services had 25,902 webchat conversations (15,577 in England and 10,325 in Scotland) and there were 1,233* social media contacts seeking advice.

Our teams of lawyers, legal advisers and support staff worked with 5,020 households across England and Scotland, and in England we saw 3,459 people through our court duty schemes.

Our community-based teams helped 13,469 households (12,203 in England and 1,266 in Scotland). Our specialist services for professionals responded to 16,293 queries from other organisations needing our housing expertise.

Justice Services supported 3,654 people in custody and in the community with their housing needs.

*Shelter does not give out housing advice via social media anymore. The social media team signpost to the advice page on the website. As such, the 2023/24 figure covers only April to December 2023.

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A shift of power in our fight for home

Our 10-year strategy is founded on our community-based teams becoming catalysts for change. They’ve moved away from simply being advice centres to places that galvanise local activism and address systemic causes of homelessness and housing insecurity.

That move to a systems-change model is a response to the growing demand for our services. Shelter cannot meet all the need we see, and if our services remain only demand-focused, we risk papering over the cracks of an unfair system. Our impact is greater when we’re challenging and fundamentally changing housing systems.

Our community-based teams continue to work with individuals, and through that work we gain an understanding of the complexities and systemic inequalities at the heart of the housing emergency. This results in us being better placed to link lived experience, community voices and frontline knowledge with our national campaigns, drawing on evidence, insights and ideas from across our Hubs.

While our ultimate goal remains increasing the supply of social housing as the solution to the housing emergency, our communitybased teams continue to work to challenge the unfair, discriminatory and broken housing systems that prevent the delivery of, and access to homes.

Community Services

Community Services and Contracts empower individuals and local communities to fight the root cause of bad housing and homelessness.

The way we work locally is through a community model. That means we reach people and community groups by proactively seeking them out, in addition to working with those who directly approach Shelter. This approach provides

us with insight into people’s lived experience of the housing emergency at a local level.

Working in this model, our communitybased teams are providing:

As well as directly helping people and families resolve their housing issues, the purpose of these activities is to achieve systems change locally. Our approach recognises the complexity of the systems causing housing injustice and works to identify and understand the underlying conditions and beliefs which influence those systems. We work with others, including those most affected, to dismantle barriers and build better systems together.

In Scotland we have been embedding our delivery model for how we tackle housing practice issues and effect change at a local level. The model is framed around identification, investigation and intervention. This approach builds on the team’s skillset and empowers Housing Rights Workers to challenge local authorities when they are failing in their duties or not upholding people’s housing rights.

We have had several successful interventions across the year where staff have responded to the pressing issues they have seen locally and have effected change.

Our model also puts a focus on generating evidence of the housing emergency, as well as insights and stories from people with lived experience. This data was a key part of our successful case for Edinburgh to declare a housing emergency.

Lived experience

Putting the voices of people with lived experience of the housing emergency at

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the heart of Shelter is a strategic goal for the organisation. We deliver a range of activities with people with lived experience, enabling them to use their views to influence, shape and change Shelter’s work. Over the last year, people with lived experience have been involved across many areas, including local Hubs, activism, income generation, and equity and inclusion initiatives. We have also continued to develop our co-production training and resources to support staff and volunteers to understand key principles, and how to embed lived experience within their work.

A key development was the creation of the General Election Lived Experience Steering Group, which has been crucial in co-designing key elements of the General Election Campaign. We have continued to coordinate lived experience groups across Hubs in England, where people have been key in shaping and steering systemschange initiatives. These activities have resulted in over 70 people with lived experience being actively involved in meaningfully shaping systems-change work via regular participation in lived experience groups across our Services and Campaigns, Policy & Communications (CPC) Directorates.

We continue to deliver the Getting Real Opportunities of Work (GROW) Programme, which is focused on breaking down barriers to work. The programme was supported by partnerships with Société Générale, and funding through the Changing Futures partnership in Greater Manchester. During the year, we supported 19 GROW Trainees on the programme.

Meanwhile, nine GROW Trainees finished their traineeships, with 78% moving into further employment, volunteering or training.

We have continued to develop pathways for lived experience participants into volunteering and employment. In the last year, eight participants progressed to employment. Others went onto training and volunteering roles.

The Dorset Hub’s Lived Experience Insights Group focuses both on local goals such as influencing local MPs and decision makers to help tackle problems such as housing conditions, and our national campaign goals, such as the need for more social housing.

As part of the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Poverty Truth Commission, local people with lived experience of bad housing and homelessness shared their stories with the commissioners and other senior stakeholders. We explored the question, ‘What is a home’ and coproduced a statement that defined the basics. This led to a commitment from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to include the statement in its work to comply with the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 , and for a newly formed private rented sector landlord group to explore adopting it.

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Case studies: Harnessing the power of community

North East: Balkwell Green Damp and Mould Project

Over the last 12 months, our Northeast Hub has been working with a local community in North Tyneside, carrying out targeted advice with a small number of residents about their experiences of damp and mould. This uncovered a far bigger problem spanning over 80 homes.

The team gathered information and insight from the wider estate to understand if they too were impacted by the same poor housing conditions and their negative experiences of working with the local authority to resolve it. Funding from the Barbour Foundation enabled the team to conduct an independent survey of four homes. Working with Shelter’s Stories and Creative teams, together they brought people’s experiences to life through case studies and videography.

The team presented these to the local authorities Director of Housing which proved a real turning point. The local authority met with the surveyor and agreed to bring all the properties up to standard. They also agreed to extend the surveys and work to more than 80 properties we had identified.

London: Influencing local policy

Shelter London Hub, in collaboration with community partners The Magpie Project and Newham Parent Forum, have been working for three years to highlight local barriers families face when trying to access a safe and secure home. They have met with the senior leadership team at Newham Council to discuss trends and issues in their casework, leading to several invitations to consult on policies and strategies that affect the delivery of housing supply and homelessness services.

In June 2023, Newham Council invited Shelter London to consult on their new

damp and mould strategy and action plan, which was being prepared in readiness for the introduction of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. Shelter London’s Newham working group provided case studies and evidence. Newham’s strategy has been significantly expanded following our intervention, ensuring all families facing damp and mould will be covered by the policy.

Bristol: Fighting for rent controls

The Bristol Fair Renting Campaign has been fighting for local rent controls. Renters leading the campaign have been developing relationships with the council administration and opposition, and successfully influenced recommendations that came out of the Bristol Living Rent Commission, which they sat on to represent renters across the city.

The campaign group have kept up momentum – speaking out at council meetings, launching an updated manifesto of demands, and bringing the renting community together to paint a 90m public mural highlighting the urgent need for local rent controls. As a result of this tireless campaigning, the council is now committed to co-producing a rent control model with the community and has started lobbying for the powers needed to control rents locally.

Norwich: Pulling together for renters

The Norwich Renters Collective (NRC) brings together renters in Norwich to campaign on issues of affordability and insecurity, and to build support for more social housing. After an effective campaign to raise the issue of a lack of social housing in a luxury development, the NRC made sure social housing was at the top of the local agenda, with 1,600 people signing their petition in six days. The Collective were able to win commitments from the council for three new social housing sites. At their recent housing election hustings, they also won commitments from a local council cabinet member to work in collaboration with NRC, Shelter, Acorn and other tenants’ groups to develop a Norwich renters’ charter.

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Fair, honest and open fundraising

We’re committed to fair, honest and open fundraising. To strive for the highest possible standards, we:

checks during welcome calls in order to maintain high standards and agreed approaches.

Complaints

Shelter has thousands of clients, supporters and campaigners and as such, millions of opportunities to engage with them through a range of channels, including face-to-face in our shops, and our events, via our publications and direct mail, on the telephone, and virtually. We welcome feedback, including complaints, and learn lessons whenever concerns are raised. Complaints are managed via our Supporter Helpdesk and during 2023/24, we dealt with 204 complaints in total this way.

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Our Fundraising Charter

We will:

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Our culture

At Shelter, the focus on our culture and how we do things is crucial. We recognise that embedding our culture requires capable, confident and inclusive leaders who are able to lead by example to deliver our strategic plans.

Anti-racism and inclusion

In recent years, anti-racism, equity and inclusion have become central to our organisational culture. Our ambition is for Shelter to be recognised nationally as an anti-racist organisation with an equitable and inclusive culture that embraces diversity and does not tolerate any form of hate.

Recognising the importance of embracing diversity in all its forms, we’ve embarked on a transformative journey, resulting in the prestigious Silver Accreditation from Inclusive Employers. This is testament to Shelter's commitment to creating an environment where all our colleagues feel valued and empowered to thrive.

We hosted our first Inclusion Awards in December 2023. The event served as a platform to acknowledge and celebrate our efforts towards fostering a culture of inclusivity. Over 75 nominations were received for both teams and individuals, they were also an opportunity to celebrate and reflect. Combined with our accreditation from Inclusive Employers, they show a clear intent and commitment to building a workplace where equity and inclusion thrive.

Meanwhile, Shelter’s We Will Not Tolerate (WWNT) programme aims to ensure our colleagues have a safe working environment where no one is discriminated against on our premises, on the telephone or virtually, and colleagues know how to deal with and report incidents. A successful WWNT pilot concluded in some Shelter shops in late 2023. The trial was successful and provided significant learnings for the planned roll out across the organisation.

Shelter’s Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion Forum (AREIF) have been making progress on several projects. For example, piloting a toolkit to support leaders to better understand the actions required for Shelter to become an actively anti-racist and inclusive organisation. The launch of a Succession Planning Programme to support the development of a more diverse organisation leadership team, ensuring that Shelter is future-proofed and capable of fulfilling its mission. We have also reviewed policies and procedures to ensure that there is an anti-racist and inclusion lens applied. Ensuring accessibility and equity. This work has so far resulted in introducing a sector leading Taking Leave Policy.

Your Voice Survey

In May 2023, we launched our first full engagement survey since 2018 for staff and volunteers. This helped us gain greater understanding of all the great things about working and volunteering at Shelter, as well as areas for improvement. We saw our overall engagement scores continuing to rise with both staff (81%) and volunteers (96%). These scores show significant improvement since our 2022 pulse survey (+9% for staff and +3% for volunteers) and since our 2018 full staff survey (+17% for staff). Through understanding these results and, critically, taking local and organisation-wide action, we continue to work towards embedding a culture centred around fearlessness, compassion, inclusion and trust. Our 2023 survey also combined our engagement and antiracism surveys, and the detailed analysis of demographics and responses enabled us to further inform and prioritise our antiracism, equity and inclusion work.

Our people

It’s through the passion, skill, care, energy, and drive of our people that we will change the country and defend the right to a safe home.

We employ over 1,250 colleagues and collaborate with more than 2,000

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volunteers in addition to supporters, campaigners and partners who all play a pivotal role in Shelter’s movement for change.

We employ skilled, experienced and passionate advisers, support workers, solicitors, peer mentors and many other housing and homelessness specialists who deliver our critical services face-to-face, by telephone or online in England and Scotland. We also employ campaigners, policy experts and researchers, who translate evidence that we get from working with people on a daily basis through our services into powerful campaigns that power the movement. All our work is supported by passionate fundraisers.

Pay and reward

We are delighted to have entered the 2024 financial year with certainty over the pay award for the coming year. The 2023 pay award was agreed some time into the year and included an agreement to review our working practices and maximise opportunities for colleagues to improve their wellbeing. Through the hard work and commitment of our Joint Negotiating Committee, an agreement for 2024 has been reached promptly, ensuring colleagues received the increase from April. We remain proud of our benefits package and our focus on wellbeing.

Volunteers

Volunteers are a crucial part of our fight for home. With volunteers making up over 60% of our people, they enable us to achieve our purpose. Equipping volunteers with our message grows our movement and broadens our reach. Our volunteers have unique experiences, perspectives, and insights, which transform how we work. Volunteering with us is a space to grow, to build confidence and a sense of purpose.

Volunteers deliver a range of roles across the organisation, which vary in the type of activity, the amount of time they give and

their responsibilities. They play an important part in generating income, delivering community priorities and campaigning for change. In 2023/24, more than 2,500 volunteers gave 200,000 hours of their time to Shelter and Shelter Scotland.

This year, we have developed new skillsbased opportunities for corporate partners. These have seen corporate volunteers support communities at risk of homelessness with developing their financial resilience, as well as enhancing our organisation’s capabilities. We also launched a new volunteer opportunity to support the delivery of our General Election Campaign. To equip volunteer managers to lead inclusively, this year we have introduced facilitated learning on ‘Supporting Volunteers with Additional Needs.’ We have also launched resources on managing difficult conversations, attracting volunteers and recruitment conversations. During the year, the newly launched Volunteer Council have fed into guidance about inclusive meetings, Volunteers’ Week, and volunteer communications, enabling us to embed volunteers’ experiences in what we do.

Sustainability and carbon footprint

As a large energy consumer, Shelter is committed to reducing its energy use and carbon footprint as part of its response to environmental issues, including the climate emergency.

Shelter has adapted to hybrid ways of working by reducing the frequency of employees commuting, the number of people in our offices and the expanded use of technology. This has a positive impact on our energy and carbon emissions and has shown to reduce fuel costs.

This has meant changes such as an increased use of serviced offices in some cases, and smaller premises in others. For these, fitouts have included energy efficient lighting and heating systems are installed wherever possible.

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Shelter has also completed the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) Phase 3, showing our total energy use has decreased by 13% since the previous phase in 2019, despite a 94% increase in cost of energy in 2022/23. This is not only due to the reduced size of the estate, and increased efficiency of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems used in the fitouts for new sites, but also having implemented some of the recommendations from Phase 2. The Shelter transport metric has also reduced from 1.7 to 1.1 kilowatt hours (kwh)/miles, which is likely to be due to the changes to our ways of working.

Shelter intends to use the ESOS Phase 3 report as benchmark, together with the action plan due to be created, to reduce the overall carbon footprint.

Shelter’s Retail team has been working to reduce waste and has audited its recycling partners. Using the audit report, it has been looking into options on how to proceed with alternatives to textile ragging. For example, selling by weight or as clearance, trialling an upcycling workshop, and looking into fibre reclamation options.

The intensity ratio is 8.402 (2022/23 – 6.109) based on tonnes CO2e of emissions versus financial year group turnover (£73.67m).

The change in our carbon consumption reflects an increasing sophistication in our reporting methodology rather than an increase in our carbon usage.

detailed information about our transport fuel consumption, and Scope 2 captures location-based energy use charged via our landlords (through service charges, etc.)

Methodology

Carbon factors used in this report are sourced from Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) conversion factors 2023. This report is aligned with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s methodology.

Shelter will continue working towards fulfilling our five-goal plan:

Shelter’s total emissions using locationbased reporting was 690.58 tonnes CO2 Equivalent (CO2e) compared to 450.14 tonnes CO2e the previous year.

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Energy use disclosure

Consumption of gas and electricity for the reporting period was as follows:

Consumption in kilowatt hours (kWh)
Gas 270,382
Electricity 1,425,448

Consumption and emissions for the reporting period were as follows:

Scope Energy type Consumption Location-based
emissions		 Market-based
emissions*
(kWh) CO2 equivalent (CO2e)
1 From activities owned
or controlled that
release emissions into
the atmosphere. These
are via buildings or
assets that the
company owns and
company-controlled
transport activities it
operates. (Natural gas;
direct business travel,
diesel and petrol.)		 1,271,989.12 286.74 0
2 Emissions associated
with the consumption
of purchased
electricity, heat, steam
and cooling. These are
direct emissions that
are a consequence of
your organisation’s
activities, but which
occur at sources you
do not own or control.		 1,727.761.19 357.77 357.77
Total 2,999,750.31 644.52 357.77

*Market-based emissions relate to any purchased energy source, which attracts a bespoke (which differs from the location-based emission) or zero-emission return. When using market-based totals, Shelter’s electricity use is covered by REGOs (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin), and would therefore be assumed to have attracted a zero-emission factor under Scope 1.

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We’re so grateful to everyone who has chosen to support Shelter and helped power the fight for home. Every donation we receive goes to ensuring the right to a safe home is protected.

In particular, we’d like to thank the following:

Supporters

Andrea Hopkins and Andy Phillipps
Andrew Wilson and Karen England
Baillie Gifford
Professor Charles Baden-Fuller
and Mary S Morgan
Chris and Joyce Pountain
Colin Temple
Dan Hayes
David Cairns
Deborah and Laurence Harris
Diarmuid Ó Séaghdha
Lucy and Donald Peck
The G & T Trust
Gareth Williams		 Giles Wright
Gordon Cooper
The Hands Family Trust
Jamie Newell
John Young
Justinian Ash
The Lambert-Fairley Family
Lisa Anderson
Mark Sorrell for Goldman Sachs
Gives
Matthew and Nicky Lyttelton
The Miel de Botton Charitable
Trust
Mike Rosenberg
The Mitchell Charitable Trust		 Neil Adleman
Nick Thomas
Paul Morgan
Richard and Diana Allan
Richard and Lucinda Cormack
Robert Charnley
Robert and Nicole Lind
Sarah Morgan
Tim Hincks and Pippa Healy
Tom Anderson
The Trillium Trust UK
TY Danjuma Family Office
Victoria and Edward Bonham
Carter

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Legacies

We are indebted to those supporters who remembered Shelter with a gift in their will. Their determination to leave real change for people facing the UK’s housing emergency lives on in our work today.

Agnes Foll
Alastair Ritchie
Allana McGhee
Andrew Millar
Ann Brown
Ann Hall
Ann Robb
Anthony Walker
April Daye
Arthur Hagger
Audrey Bishop
Barbara Gordon
Barbara Hollis
Bridget Davies
Catherine Jones
Christopher Henry
Derek Barnes
Derek Duggan
Derek Mulquin
Diane Bevington
Doris Brown
Elaine Endacott
Elizabeth Ross
Elizabeth Ward		 Eric Saxby
Ethel Johnson
Eva McCarthy
Frances Cassidy
Frederick Smithies
George Barclay-Russell
Ghislaine May
Gordon Prudence
Gordon Thomson
Gwendoline Stockton
Harry Crawshaw
Helen Naylor
Henry Evans
Iain McGlashan
Irene Clark
Irene Crook
James McCombe
James Muckle
Janet Nesbitt
Janet Smart
Jean Greig
Jean Hutcheon
Jeanne McCue
Jennifer Liverton		 Joan Binns
Joan Dunn
Joan Renfree
John Abram
John Adams
John Leahy
John Lockley
John Millar
Judith Pack
Julia Black
Kamal Paul
Karen Murray
Kenneth Simpson
Leslie Davie
Margaret Fielding
Margaret Goodall
Margaret Marr
Margaret Scott Smith Tod
Margaret Speyer
Margarita Martin
Maria Drinkwater
Mary Greaves
Maurice Knights
Michael Bosanquet		 Moira Brooks
Muriel Tate
Nooraly Bhawan
Paul Hashim
Peter Good
Peter Moulding
Philip Webley
Reginald Barnes
Robert Friend
Samuel Stringer
Sarah Leigh
Sheila Morrey
Sidney Goss
Stanley Miller
Thelma Clague
Trevor Sewell
Valerie Dixon
Vernon Hendy
Walter Boakes
William Hibbert
Winifred Vickers
Yvonne Houghton

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Trusts and foundations

The 29th May 1961 Charitable
Trust
abrdn Financial Fairness Trust
Access to Justice Foundation
Albert Hunt Trust
The Barbour Foundation
BBC Children in Need
The Bentley Family Trust
CB & HH Taylor 1984 Trust
Chrysalis Trust
The Constance Travis
Charitable Trust		 E M Chapman Discretionary
Will Trust
The Franey Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Hamer Charitable Trust
Harrison-Frank Family
Foundation
Hyde Park Place Estate Charity
John James Bristol
Foundation
Nationwide Foundation
Oak Foundation		 Players of Postcode Lottery and
awarded by People’s Postcode Trust
The Scotshill Trust
ShareGift
The Legal Education Foundation
The Material World Foundation
The Robertson Trust
The Royal British Legion
The Zochonis Charitable Trust
William Allen Young Charitable Trust

Corporate partners

Corporate partnerships are vital to helping us end the devastating impact the housing emergency is having on people and communities. Together, we use our voices to create lasting change through fundraising, awareness raising and campaigning.

Art Marketing
B&Q/Kingfisher
Birmingham Midshires
British Land
Dreams		 FatFace
First Direct
Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer
HSBC UK
IKEA		 Lloyds Banking Group
M&S
Mitchells & Butlers plc
Nationwide Building
Society		 Network Rail
SCS
Société Générale UK
Wayfair

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Stock generation

Stock generation provides a unique way for organisations to help tackle the housing emergency while simultaneously supporting sustainability in the retail sector. These partners donate pre-loved or end-of-life stock, which is then sold through Shelter’s chain of community and boutique shops. Funds raised from sales help to support our vital work across the country.

AllSaints
Dreams
FatFace
Furniture and Choice
IKEA		 JD Sports
Lucy & Yak
Marks & Spencer
Nobody’s Child
Office Shoes		 Oliver Bonas
Quiz
SCS
Urban Outfitters
Vivienne Westwood		 Wayfair
We Are Tala Ltd

Spotlight on Corporate Partnerships:

HSBC

Through our partnership with HSBC UK, we’re working together to support people to build their financial resilience and help break the vicious cycle of homelessness. Our three-year partnership, which launched in April 2023, aims to increase support for people in immediate crisis, as well as help build a more secure future for those at risk. This includes funding Shelter’s emergency helpline and frontline services, as well as developing enhanced digital support. In the first 12 months of partnership, HSBC UK’s donation has enabled Shelter to support 42,000 individuals.

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IKEA

In 2022, Shelter and IKEA embarked on an eight-year partnership to defend the thing that both organisations believe more than anything: that home is everything. To launch our ambitious strategic partnership, together we created our ‘Real Life Roomsets’ campaign, which saw the real-life living conditions of Shelter clients living in temporary accommodation replicated and built in four commercial spaces in IKEA stores across the UK. The contrast of the ideal living conditions of the iconic IKEA ‘Roomsets’ with the bleak conditions of temporary accommodation, served to raise public awareness as well as provide a call-to-action to join us in our shared ambition to fight the housing emergency. Together, Shelter and IKEA aim to ensure that by 2030, half a million people in need have access to a better life at home. The backbone of the partnership includes campaigning for 90,000 social homes to be built a year by 2030.

The campaign delivered incredible results, ultimately raising public awareness of temporary accommodation. It generated a total of 324 pieces of editorial coverage including pieces in the Daily Express, Metro, Daily Mail and Independent. The coverage delivered more than 100,246, 243 Opportunities to See, reaching 43% of all UK adults. Almost all – 98% of pieces – featured key campaign messages and key brand attributes and 99% of pieces included the partnership messaging. The ‘Real Life Roomsets’ were also taken to the Labour party conference, a key event to deliver Shelter’s messaging that housing must be prioritised. We were thrilled to be short-listed for the Third Sector Business Charity Awards for the campaign, a fantastic result that reflected its impact.

Société Générale

After three fantastic years, we were thrilled that Société Générale and the Société Générale UK Foundation chose to extend our partnership in September 2023. As sole funders of Shelter’s GROW Programme, they are fully committed to supporting people who have lived through the trauma of poor housing and homelessness to find real experience in the workplace. Société Générale, along with the generous matched funding from the Société Générale UK Foundation, hit the impressive milestone of £1.2million this year, a transformational amount.

In December, Société Générale launched the GROW exhibition at its office in Canary Wharf, displaying items provided by GROW Trainees which they felt represented their experiences, along with their individual stories. The exhibition provided an opportunity to amplify the voices of our GROW Trainees while enabling Société Générale colleagues to build their understanding of the housing emergency and the impact of the GROW Programme. This exhibit launched their ‘Donate the First’ campaign, where colleagues donate the first hour or day of their January pay.'

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Structure and management

Shelter, the National Campaign for Homeless People Limited (trading as ‘Shelter’), is a registered charity (number 263710 for England and Wales and SCO02327 for Scotland) and a company limited by guarantee (number 01038133). It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association which were last updated in April 2020.

Board of Trustees

Shelter’s Board of Trustees are also the company directors for the purposes of the Companies Act, and have overall responsibility for the strategy, direction, management and control of the charity. The Board met formally six times during 2023/24.

The Board consists of 12 members who give their time on a voluntary basis, receiving no remuneration or other benefits. Out-of-pocket expenses, along with any other costs incurred by trustees in the furtherance of their duties, are repaid by the charity in line with the Trustee Expenses Polices. Details of these expenses are set out in note 19 to the Financial Statements.

Our trustees are recruited using open recruitment processes. Vacant positions are advertised and promoted externally through relevant networks. We place emphasis on having the appropriate balance of skills and experience on our Board, as well as aspiring to have a Board that represents the public and audiences we were established to serve.

Trustee terms of office are normally two three-year terms, with an exceptional third two-year term on the recommendation of the Board. All new trustees complete an induction programme and are expected to adhere to Shelter’s Trustee Code of Conduct

that includes the Seven Principles of Public Life (‘Nolan Principles’).

We take our governance responsibilities seriously and aim to have a governance framework that’s fit for purpose, compliant and efficient. During the year, a review of the organisation’s governance was undertaken, and minor changes were made to improve the organisations governance.

Board Committees

The Board has established committees to support the fulfilment of its governance responsibilities. These are:

Ensures financial and human resources are adequate, and effectively allocated across Shelter, and that internal systems and processes are suitable for the delivery of the Board’s stated strategic objectives and Shelter’s charitable purposes.

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Trustees

Helen Baker

Chair

Philippe Lintern

(resigned 17 June 2024) Vice Chair and Chair of Resources and Internal Systems Committee

Laurice Ponting

(resigned 16 January 2024) Chair of Quality and Impact Committee

Co-opted members

The trustees have established committees to support the delivery of their responsibilities, and we thank the following for the expert advice they provide:

Scotland Committee

Jamie Kinlochan

Sarah Miller Ralston

Kezia Dugdale

Chair of Scotland Committee

Ken Gibb

Karen Kneller

Chair of Audit and Risk Committee

Leonie Foster

Chair of Quality and Impact Committee

Jackie Killeen

(resigned 23 May 2024)

Jim Strang

John McQuade

Annie Mauger-Thompson

Resources and Internal Systems Committee

Catherine Jobling

Audit and Risk Committee

Andrew Martyn-Johns

Vice Chair

Steven Board

Louisa Baxter

Quality and Impact Committee

Myfanwy Barrett

Chair of Resources and Internal Systems Committee

Alison Taylor

Arshmeena Durrani

Steve Haines

Jonathan Simmons

Insurance

Shelter maintains indemnity insurance for appointed trustees and officers included as part of the organisation’s commercial combined insurance policy.

Chris Pitt

Biographies of all current trustees are available on our website.

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Executive leadership

Overall operational management of Shelter is delegated by the Board to the chief executive and the Executive Leadership team. Shelter has six directorates:

Advisers

External Auditors BDO LLP

55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU

Internal Auditors

Crowe LLP 55 Ludgate Hill, London EC4M 7JW

Solicitors Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1BE

Investment Managers

Polly Neate CBE FAcSS HonDLaws Chief Executive

Judith Banjoko Director of Services

Mairi MacRae

Cazenove Capital Management 1 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AU

Bankers

Lloyds Bank Plc 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN

(appointed 3 June 2024) Director of Campaigns, Policy and Communications

Mary Foulkes OBE FCIPD Director of Equity, Inclusion and Culture

Tim Gutteridge

Director of Strategy Enablement

Andy Harris

Director of Income Generation

Alison Watson

Director of Shelter Scotland

Osama Bhutta

(resigned) Director of Campaigns, Policy and Communications

Biographies of all current members of the Executive Leadership team are available on our website.

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Measuring success

Shelter has a framework for performance reporting and the Executive Leadership team and Board receives regular reports on progress against the strategy, the delivery of strategic plans, and the success of key activities and programmes. This includes a set of key performance indicators that are reviewed at each Board meeting for action.

This year, we've continued working on improving our data literacy and systems. We're refining how we measure our work in communities and nationally to see how local activities contribute to broader changes. This includes updating our performance reporting with more data about the wider housing system. Many of Shelter’s goals, such as changing policy and practice, are complex and involve working with partners and other campaigners. So, understanding our impact goes beyond what Shelter measures and looks across the housing system to see the change. These changes are iterative, but support the organisation’s aim of creating meaningful change for people and communities and eventually an end to the housing emergency.

Systems-change work involves working with complexity, and so it was important to be open to exploring the many influences on homelessness and bad housing. This includes local practices, cultures and allocation of resources, as well as the place of housing rights and housing supply. Each community-based team has their own challenges arising from the local external environment. Being present in a city or region makes us part of the community, and helps us identify how barriers, injustice and discrimination play out for people day in, day out. This influenced how we decided on priorities, but there was also a need to connect local insights, lived experience and influencing with Shelter’s strategy and national campaigning. This approach enabled us to consider the impact of the work as

nation-specific and across both nations we operate in as a model and in thematic terms.

There are three impact areas in the Outcomes Framework:

Safeguarding

In 2023, a Safeguarding Manager started in post at Shelter. The purpose of this new role is to have dedicated specialist resource and oversight of all aspects of safeguarding, covering service users, colleagues and those we come into contact with through our work. The Safeguarding Manager acts as the designated safeguarding lead for Shelter and Shelter Scotland and leads on safeguarding governance and improvements to practice and policy. The Safeguarding Manager started a programme of work over 2023/24 which has focused on improved policies, procedures, training and reporting across the organisation.

Shelter recognises that safeguarding is everyone’s business. We’re committed to ensuring every person we encounter through our work is able to work with Shelter, free from risk, harm and threat. As such, we’ve invested in improving the governance framework that supports our safeguarding practice. The framework includes trustee sponsorship and involvement in the organisation’s safeguarding panel. The safeguarding panel, originally established by our Board of Trustees, supports our commitment to safeguarding. The panel ensures that we have a fully cross-organisational approach. This means everyone in Shelter is aware of their responsibilities and is equipped to support our safeguarding practices. That includes an annual report to the Board to provide assurance that our framework and practice are helping us to maintain our commitment, that we keep our

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framework and practice under review, and that we share and learn from our collective knowledge and experience of safeguarding matters.

Data privacy and security

Data protection and security sit at the centre of everything we do. We take significant steps to uphold the privacy of personal information of our donors, supporters, clients, staff and volunteers. We have implemented privacy by design to fit with our ways of working, and with our robust data governance framework we have been able to minimise the risk in our data processing and data security through the organisation.

We process data ethically and responsibly and are always open and honest about why we collect, use and store personal data. Personal data is held for no longer than it’s required and is managed within our robust data protection framework. Rigorous processes and procedures help us fulfil people’s right to access, portability, erasure and rectification. Our privacy notices provide a clear explanation of how and why we process personal data, and we aim to make clear an individual’s rights of control over how and when their personal data is used. We respect people’s preferences and wishes about how they want to hear from us. Training our staff, volunteers and contractors is a vital part of our data protection framework, which also includes our robust policies, procedures, processes, data documentation, communication plans, third-party supplier due diligence and regular audits to ensure the framework is working as intended. We are continuously making improvements to our privacy framework, based on stakeholder queries and requests, outcomes of data protection impact assessments and annual audits, and risks/issues raised while documenting new processing activities throughout the organisation. It is important to us that our privacy

framework evolves as processing evolves with the implementation of new technology and organisational data requirements. If a data breach occurs, we take swift action to put things right, learning from mistakes and putting measures in place to prevent future incidents. We take a proactive approach to identifying and managing the risks around IT and data security with our data security framework. The training, policies, processes, external penetration testing, regular audits and reporting maintain high standards of cyber security that are accredited with the Cyber Essentials certification. Privacy measures are built into the design phase of all our applications and processes as a matter of course. This helps us to remain trustworthy, open and accountable to everyone we encounter.

During the year, a supplier we work with to manage some of our supporter surveys notified us of a data security incident. The incident did not include any sensitive or financial details, and the company conducted a detailed forensic investigation and assured us there was no evidence to suggest the data had been shared further. All of the data has since been destroyed. We reported the incident to the ICO and the Charity Commission. We took all the necessary steps and took the decision to notify supporters out of an abundance of caution. We have and will continue to do everything possible to prevent this from happening in the future.

Subsidiary undertakings

The charity’s wholly owned trading subsidiary, Shelter Trading Limited (company number 02573404), carries out non-charitable trading activities for the charity (primarily the sale of new goods and managing the corporate sponsorship activities). Details are included in note 20 to the accounts. The activity of Shelter Trading Limited generates considerable awareness of the charity’s wider work while raising some of the funds required to support the charity’s operations.

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Principal risks and uncertainties

Taking risk is an inherent part of Shelter’s operations. Without taking risks, we will not be able to deliver our strategic plans. The organisation has a well-developed risk framework designed to support the organisation’s leadership to manage, rather than eliminate risk and support informed decision-making. The framework supports colleagues to take a consistent approach to identifying and managing risk, ultimately ensuring risk is managed within the Board’s agreed appetite and tolerance.

The expertise of Shelter’s staff is essential to the identification, evaluation and management of risks. Our approach recognises six primary risk types (strategic, operational, compliance, financial, reputational and cultural) and we consider all risk against the risk to the organisation, its people and the delivery of our strategic aims.

The Audit and Risk Committee reviews the risk register at every meeting and approves the annual internal audit plan which includes reviews of areas of significant risks. The committee receives regular reports from the internal auditors on the effectiveness of Shelter’s internal controls, the delivery of the audit plan and the implementation of audit recommendations.

Shelter’s trustees determine how much risk the charity is willing to take in the pursuit of its objectives (its risk appetite) as well as changes requiring the charity to operate an appropriate risk

management framework. The Audit and Risk Committee reviews the operational effectiveness of the risk management and internal control systems and reports findings and recommendations to the Board.

For major activities, projects and programmes, Shelter adopts standard governance approaches to ensure the activities are properly planned, managed and implemented. Risk management is a key responsibility of project teams.

Our principal risks are shown in the following tables. This is a summary of the more detailed risk register entries including mitigations.

Reserves risk

Shelter’s reserves are maintained in line with Charity Commission guidance to mitigate against and manage risks to the organisation, as well as to invest in new opportunities. Rather than calculate reserves based on a number of months’ expenditure, Shelter takes a risk-based approach. The organisation’s leadership and Audit and Risk Committee regularly review and analyse the financial risks faced by the organisation and recommend to the Board a suitable level of financial reserves. This analysis considers both the organisation’s and external circumstances, as well as Shelter’s activities and principal risks. The aim is to ensure a level of reserves adequate for Shelter to survive economic shocks without compromising on our strategic aims.

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Strategic risks

Strategic Risks are those risks to the delivery of our strategy and strategic plans. That includes the strategy becoming less effective at addressing the housing emergency, the organisation being unable to deliver our goals, or the goals being less, or no longer relevant. That could include, for example, shifts or increases in service demand, changes in the landscape in which we operate, or changes in the external expectations of the organisation.

Risk Comment Mitigations
Financial Risk
 Internal and external financial pressures result in a greater level
of financial risk to the organisation. These factors include
ongoing inflationary pressure on costs as well as greater
competition and uncertainty in fundraised income.
The organisation no longer has reserves in excess of policy.
This is ameliorated by the organisation’s access to lending if
non-policy risks materialise.		 • As covered in the Finance Review, the reserves policy has been updated
to reflect the changing nature of risks we are exposed to. Particularly, the
recognition of our VAT liability means we are no longer holding reserves
against this risk as it now forms part of the balance sheet.
• We continue to plan on a multi-year basis, and will periodically put in
place such change programmes as are necessary to manage our cost
base within predicted revenue.
• We continue to have access to debt finance through the value of our
freehold estate and will utilise these facilities should the need arise.
Political context and relevance The Kings Speech and other announcements from the new
Labour government make clear the housing and homelessness
remain a political priority.
Policy and decision-makers (locally and nationally) are faced
with multiple competing priorities. Shelter’s aims in England
and Scotland can ultimately only be delivered through policy
change, thus ensuring that the housing emergency remains a
salient political issue is critical to delivery.		 • Shelter's ability to influence decision-makers and policymakers (locally
and nationally), as well as galvanise a wider movement of campaigners
and civil society towards our campaign and policy aims.
• Shelter’s brand positions the organisation to campaign on the housing
emergency and help the organisation articulate how we view equity as a
key part of our social justice mission.
• Available public polling and our own research informs us of the public's
understanding of our issues. Currently housing and homelessness remain
salient political issues, and the public understand both that there is a
Housing Emergency, and that a solution is an increase in social housing.

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External perceptions of
Shelter’
s purpose		 The risk that Shelter is seen by the public as irrelevant or
operating outside of our purpose. In particular with the direct
consequences of the housing emergency seen every day,
campaigning for systemic solutions may be seen as irrelevant
or unachievable.
Externally, there are changing perceptions of the role charities
and civil society can and should play campaigning on
contentious issues.		 Shelter’s brand positions the organisation clearly to campaign on the
housing emergency and place equity and anti-racism as fundamental parts
of a social justice mission.
Shelter’
s commitment
to equity and inclusion,
anti-racism and lived
experience		 A key part of our strategy is that our enemy is social injustice,
because it denies the right to a safe home, and that equity is a
fundamental part of that. We know that the housing system
currently is biased and discriminatory, and that is not well
understood by the general public.		 • Our campaigns and marketing include messages about how equity is a
key part of our social justice mission.
• The finalisation of the Equity and Inclusion Plan will increase our ability to
provide a coherent and clear way forward to address priorities.
• The development of 'Inclusive Employer and Volunteering Organisation of
choice' as well as other accreditations.
• The Anti-Racism and Equity Forum ensures transparency of the work
internally.
Internal capability, capacity
and culture		 Shelter’s 10-year strategy was a significant departure from the
previous operating model. As well as new ways of working post-
pandemic, there is a risk that the organisation doesn’t have the
correct capability, capacity or culture to deliver the stated
strategic aims.		 • Ongoing work to nurture and develop organisational culture. This is
supported by the work of the relatively new Equity, Inclusion and Culture
Directorate who lead the work developing the organisation’s culture.
• Shelter’s in-house Leadership Development programme (LEAD) includes
modules to embed the behaviours associated with our desired culture
and includes masterclasses on Trust and Psychological Safety.
• As well as the general LEAD programme there is a tailored development
programme for senior leaders, as well as succession-planning exercises.
• Delivery of Outward Mindset has commenced, supporting development of
organisational culture and capability.
Shelter's position on
the climate
emergency		 The climate emergency is a global problem, and arguably the
most significant social justice issue facing the world today.
Shelter is taking steps to reduce the organisation’s impact on
the environment but there is a risk that our policy and
campaigning work calling for the building of a new generation
of social housing isn't seen as sustainable or, worse, is
perceived to be irreconcilable with sustainability goals.		 • Continued implementation of the energy saving recommendations,
including changes to the small number of Shelter-operated cars and vans
has already reduced our energy use by 20%.
• Post-pandemic ways of working, and a relaunch of the internal staff
environment group.

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Section 172 Statement

Section 172 Statement

Shelter is a leading housing and homelessness charity, and relies on stakeholder trust and confidence to achieve strategic and operational aims. Shelter’s trustees ensure compliance with Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 by promoting the charity's success and ensuring that decision-making incorporates consideration of stakeholder interests.

Day-to-day management is delegated to the chief executive and Executive Leadership team, who follow Boardapproved policies to further Shelter’s strategy and charitable goals.

The Board and its committees periodically review strategic policies and monitor Shelter’s performance and plans. They oversee specific activities to ensure the charity is following its strategy and policies. This process ensures that decisions comply with Section 172 of the Companies Act, promoting the charity’s success.

Shelter achieves its charitable goals through strong relationships with stakeholders such as staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, individuals affected by housing emergencies, supporters, policymakers, and other key figures in housing. The chief executive and Executive Leadership team consistently report on partnerships, stakeholder engagement activities, and feedback received, ensuring effective interaction and ongoing support for Shelter's mission.

Shelter’s trustees have a duty to promote the success of the charity and, in doing so, are required by section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006 to have regard to various specific factors, including:

The likely consequences of any decision in the long term

The nature of the work Shelter is engaged in depends on long-term thinking. Our goal to tackle social injustice and ensure that the right to a

safe home is defended requires identifying the interventions most likely to deliver long-term impact to those affected by the housing emergency.

Supported by our internal auditors, the Board and the Audit and Risk Committee reviewed Shelter’s principal strategic risks and risk appetite. The risk register is reviewed at every meeting of the Board of Trustees and Audit and Risk Committee and consideration is given to emergent risk and changes to existing risk, as well as changes to the overall risk profile and the organisation’s capacity to take on risk. During the year, action was taken to bring risk within the charity’s appetite in relation to trade union engagement, particularly during the period of industrial action.

The desirability of the charity to maintain a reputation for high standards of conduct

Shelter has been investing time and resources in its internal culture for several years, and the Board plays a key role in setting the organisation’s culture and values. The organisation has a variety of policies and controls in place that promote corporate responsibility and ethical behaviour. Areas covered include fundraising and income generation, conflicts of interest, safeguarding, dignity at work and whistleblowing, and these are all reviewed regularly. We expect those we work with (both as partners and suppliers) to apply similar policies to our own in areas such as living wage, dignity at work, safeguarding and modern slavery. We are also developing a ’Do not Tolerate’ statement to embed our antiracism and inclusion work into all we do.

Engaging with our stakeholders

Shelter regularly engages with key stakeholders, and through this engagement we maintain an understanding of their needs and priorities, informing how we develop our objectives and strategic plans. The Board and its committees’ decisionmaking process considers the impact of decisions on relevant stakeholders, where and when relevant. Trustees are provided with assurance that proper consideration is given by its committees

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to stakeholder interests through regular reports from each committee.

People affected by the housing emergency

Through our Lived Experience Insight team, we regularly involve people with lived experience in the work we do. This is across the breadth of the organisation’s activities; not just service provision, but also our campaigns, our policies, governance and the development of the organisation’s strategic plans and priorities. Time at Board meetings has been used to consider the insight of those with lived experience.

policy to meet our objective of a safe home for everyone. Regular consideration is given to our influencing plans and proposals for how we will work in partnership with other organisations to pursue shared policy outcomes. The regularity with which our research is quoted by parliamentarians demonstrates that we are considered an effective organisation by politicians of all parties.

Our staff and volunteers

Our staff are essential to the organisation's effectiveness and the Board regularly considers the impact of key decisions on staff and volunteers. This is received via the executive and through regular engagement surveys, and through engagement with staff representatives. This is both formally through a recognised trade union and through staff groups such as the internal culture beacons and Affinity Groups (Racial Equality Network, LGBTQ+, Women and Non-binary, Disabled and Neurodivergent).

Our supporters

Shelter was established as a campaign for change, and our supporters are essential to achieving our campaigning goals. Regular consideration is given to the views and priorities of our supporters. This includes considerations of research and focus groups of our supporters. The trustees use this insight to guide the development and delivery of our activity to ensure that our supporters’ views inform our activity.

Key opinion leaders, policymakers and others with significant interest or involvement in housing

Shelter works closely with key opinion leaders and influencers – parliamentarians, members of local governments, as well as national and regional bodies to help shape and inform

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Significant Event/
Decision		 S172 Action/Impact
General Election
Campaign		 • Our staff and volunteers
• Our supporters
• People affected by the housing emergency
• Key opinion leaders, policymakers and others with
significant interest or involvement in housing		 • The 2024 General Election was a significant opportunity for Shelter/
Shelter Scotland to gain political commitments to ending the housing
emergency.
• The Board considered proposals and approved the development and
launch of a General Election manifesto and campaign that was
developed and shaped by people with lived experience of the housing
emergency.
• The campaign called on political parties to commit to: building a new
generation of social homes; making renting affordable; raising
standards in rented homes; and strengthening housing rights.
Reduced Working Hours
Trial		 • Our staff and volunteers
• Our supporters		 • Shelter is committed to enhancing work-life balance and employee
wellbeing, recognising it as critical in the fight for home. The
organisation already has an excellent total reward package.
• As part of the 2023 Pay Deal with the recognised Trade Union, and
taking inspiration from the UK trials of a four-day-week, the Board
agreed to a reduced working hours trial, aimed at understanding
whether Shelter can reduce working hours away from the current 37.5
with no loss of productivity, to boost employee wellbeing.

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Cost of Living Crisis and • Our staff and volunteers Inflationary Cost • People affected by the housing emergency Pressures

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Our Finances

Financial review

Shelter’s financial performance in 2023/24 showed significant improvement on the challenging economic conditions of 2022/23. Income grew by £7.7m, with expenditure reducing by £0.1m from 2022/23, resulting in an operating deficit of £1.3m. This is a major reduction in the operating deficit of £7.8m on 2022/23. A combination of successful cost-saving initiatives and growth in fundraising income helped to manage the ongoing impact of inflation on our cost base.

Shelter’s investment portfolio showed gains of £0.70m. Further analysis of this increase can be found in the investments review below. Including this movement, Shelter’s overall deficit was £1.25m in 2023/24.

Income

Income totalled £81.33m in 2023/24. This is £7.67m (10%) higher than the prior year, due to a significant increase in donations, mainly those from corporate partners, partly offset by a reduction in income from grants and contracts provided by public bodies.

Donations and legacies totalling £53.34m showed an increase of £8.2m (18%) from 2022/23. This is the sum of a £7.54m (20%) increase in donations and a £0.63m (10%) increase in legacies.

This increase in donations is primarily due to continued strong growth in funding from Shelter’s corporate donors, as well as improved giving from individuals and a number of high value legacies.

There has been a £1.15m (8%) decline in income from charitable activities to £13.14m in 2023/24. The decrease in income reflects the discontinuation of funding for the Network Rail Outreach Service and Birmingham & Solihull NHS Trust Peer Mentors.

Shelter maintained retail income at 2022/23 levels. Income of £12.98m was £0.10m (1%) higher than 2022/23. This growth was the net effect of a marginal

increase in the sale of donated goods, which increased by £0.26m (2%) on 2022/23 and a reduction in sale of new goods, which was down by £0.17m (29%), mainly due to the ongoing decline in the sale of Christmas cards.

Expenditure

Expenditure totalled £82.65m in 2023/24. This is £0.12m (0%) lower than the prior year with the continued inflationary impact on staff costs offset by successful cost control measures and the absence of the exceptional VAT costs that occurred in 2022/23 (£2.14m). At the time of publication, Shelter has substantively repaid this debt.

The cost of raising donations and legacies decreased by £0.85m (4%) in 2023/24. This was necessary as part of managing Shelter’s overall financial position and reflects reduced investment in long term fundraising initiatives. Overall, there was a reduction of £1.18m on direct non-staff fundraising costs and a small reduction on direct staff costs from 2022/23.

Retail costs increased, rising by £0.41m (3%), due to continued inflationary effects, mainly on staff costs, and apportioned support costs. Given the continued high costs in running the retail chain, our retail operation again generated a net loss after the attribution of shared support costs. This increased by £0.30m in 2023/24, to a total loss after support costs of £1.63m. Shelter’s retail chain continues to play a valuable role providing a direct fundraising surplus, as a well as adding additional value through a high street brand presence and engagement of local communities.

Expenditure on charitable activities increased by £0.33m (1%) to £49.48m in 2023/24. This was largely driven by growth in Communications, Policy and Campaign work, increasing £0.94m (11%) in expenditure as the organisation prepared for the approach of the general election, and was offset by a reduction of £0.78m in Services. This reduction in Services is driven by £0.63m from National Services and £0.35m from Telephone and Online Advice Services.

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Services went through a programme of cost savings and efficiencies which is largely responsible for this reduction.

At £18.04m, support costs are £0.77m (4%) lower than the prior year. This is the net effect of the absence of the exceptional VAT expenditure of 2022/23, offset against growth in support functions, which have upscaled to meet growing business need, and increased depreciation costs following investment in IT hardware and software for the organisation.

Surplus

Under the requirements of the 2019 Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), Shelter separates its funds into restricted and unrestricted. Full information on Shelter’s funds can be found in note 16 to the accounts.

The £1.25m deficit generated in 2023/24 is comprised of a £1.68m restricted surplus, relating to grants or donations restricted to a particular purpose for which the funds were received in prior years and carried forward, and a £2.93m unrestricted deficit. The unrestricted deficit is the sum of a £2.39m decrease in funds designated for particular purposes by the Board and a £0.54m decrease in general funds, also known as reserves. The decrease in designated funds is entirely due to depreciation of fixed and intangible assets.

The trading company (Shelter Trading Limited) made a distribution of £0.43m to the charity, in line with the £0.43m distribution made in 2022/23. The

trading company’s income comprises corporate sponsorship partnerships as well as the sale of purchased stock through retail, and commission earned by selling donated goods on behalf of the charity under the Retail Gift Aid Scheme. (The sale of donated stock is recognised in the charity.)

Reserves and other funds

Shelter’s reserves, shown on the balance sheet as ‘general funds’, are its unrestricted funds not designated by the Board for any other purpose. They provide resilience in the event of

financial shocks, such as an unexpected decline in income.

The Reserves Policy determines the target level for reserves. This is based on a schedule of risks which is reviewed by the Board annually or in the event of a significant change to Shelter’s risk profile. In the event of a risk materialising, reserves may fall below the target level, but plans must be put in place to return them to the target level within the following three years.

Shelter's Reserves Policy target level was £8.3m for the end of 2023/24. At 31 March 2024, reserves are £0.03m lower than this, at £7.96m. This balance is small decrease of £0.54m on the previous year-end total, reflecting the stabilising of income and expenditure following the planned draw down of reserves that took place in 2022/23.

Over the medium-term horizon, the Board has directed management to continue to grow reserves, to a target level of £12.5m by the close of the year ended 31[st] March 2027.

Shelter has three designated funds: the Revaluation Reserve, the Property and Fixed Asset Fund, and the Strategic Investment Fund.

The Revaluation Reserve and Property and Fixed Asset Fund relate to Shelter’s fixed assets. Transfers totalling £2.39m have been made to reserves from these funds, to reflect the net decrease in fixed asset values in 2023/24 as depreciation charges have exceeded additions. This reduction has primarily been driven by the ongoing depreciation of Shelter’s Old Street office and Customer Relationship Management software.

The Strategic Investment Fund was created in 2018/19 to invest in activity to help Shelter achieve its 10-year strategy and is funded by unrestricted legacies greater than £0.75m. This fund was dormant in 2023/24.

Further information on Shelter’s funds can be found in note 16 to the accounts.

Investments

Shelter’s investment managers, Cazenove Capital, manage the

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investment fund within the parameters identified in the Investment Policy set by the Board. The Committee for Resources and Internal Systems has responsibility for reviewing the performance of the funds.

Shelter is a social justice organisation which seeks to invest ethically. As such, Shelter’s Investment Policy generally excludes from the portfolio organisations whose primary business relates to alcohol, arms, gambling, highinterest rate lending, housing and property development, oil, coal and gas, pornography and the sex industry, or tobacco.

During 2023/24 Shelter made the decision to liquidate the investments previously held in Cazenove’s Responsible Multi-Asset Fund (RMAF), a pooled fund specifically created for the charitable sector, and transfer the funds into high-interest cash investments to create increased liquidity, while benefiting from the current high interest rates. This included the withdrawal of £2.39m to aid operating cash levels. During 2023/24, gains in the value of investments were £0.07m, an increase of £0.20m on the £0.13m loss of 2022/23.

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Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report, the Annual Report, and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the group for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Financial statements are published on the Charity’s website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The maintenance and integrity of the Charity’s website is the responsibility of the Trustees. The Trustees’ responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein.

Disclosure of information to auditors

All of the current Trustees have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any information needed by the charitable company's auditors for the purposes of their audit and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information. The Trustees are not aware of any relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware.

Auditor

BDO LLP were appointed as the charity’s auditors during the 2019/20 financial year.

The Trustees’ Annual Report, which includes the Strategic Report, has been approved by the Trustees on 25[th] September 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Helen Baker

Chair of the Board of Trustees

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS AND TRUSTEES OF SHELTER, THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE LIMITED

Opinion on the financial statements

In our opinion, the financial statements:

We have audited the financial statements of Shelter (“the Parent Charitable Company”) and its subsidiaries (“the Group”) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the charity and group balance sheets, the consolidated cash flow statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Independence

We remain independent of the Group and the Parent Charitable Company in accordance with the ethical requirements relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

Conclusions related to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Group and the Parent Charitable Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

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Other information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The other information comprises: Trustees’ Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Other Companies Act 2006 reporting

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Group and the Parent Charitable Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatement in the Strategic report or the Trustee’s report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the Group’s and the Parent Charitable Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either

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intend to liquidate the Group or the Parent Charitable Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 44(1)(c) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with the Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Extent to which the audit was capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Based on our understanding of the Charity and the industry in which it operates, we identified that the principal laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements to be Charities Acts, Companies Act 2006, UK GAAP, Charities SORP, fundraising regulations and tax legislation. We assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.

In addition, the Association is subject to many other laws and regulations where the consequences of non-compliance could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial statements, for instance through the imposition of fines or litigation. We identified the following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: employment law, data protection and health and safety legislation. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Directors and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence if any.

Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, 56 of 95

for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located at the Financial Reporting Council’s (“FRC’s”) website at:

https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Charitable Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, and to the Charitable Company’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charitable Company’s members and trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charitable Company, the Charitable Company’s members as a body and the Charitable Company’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Heather Wheelhouse (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of BDO LLP, Statutory Auditor

London, UK

07 October 2024

BDO LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (with registered number OC305127).

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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities

For the year ended 31 March 2024 (incorporating income and expenditure accounts)

Notes Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds 2024 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 43,459 9,877 53,336 45,166
Charitable activities:
Grants and contracts 5 3,986 4,812 8,798 10,234
Training and resources for housing professionals 5 1,169 993 2,162 2,107
Other 5 1,499 680 2,179 1,945
Retail operations 3 12,977 - 12,977 12,873
Investments 4 205 - 205 14
Other trading income 1,674 - 1,674 1,326
Total income 64,969 16,362 81,331 73,665
Expenditure on:
Raising donations and legacies 2 18,355 214 18,569 19,420
Retail operations 3 14,539 65 14,604 14,197
Charitable activities:
Services 27,346 11,737 39,083 39,859
Communication, policy and campaigns 6,670 2,644 9,314 8,374
Lived experience insight 1,057 27 1,084 920
Total expenditure on charitable activities 35,073 14,408 49,481 49,153
Total expenditure 7 67,967 14,687 82,654 82,770
Net income/(expenditure) before investment
gains/(losses)		 (2,998) 1,675 (1,323) (9,105)
Net gains/(losses) on investments 12 73 - 73 (130)
Net income/(expenditure) for theyear (2,925) 1,675 (1,250) (9,235)
Reconciliation of funds:
Fund balances at the start of the year 21(a) 20,210 3,911 24,121 33,356
Fund balances at the end of theyear 16,18 17,285 5,586 22,871 24,121

The notes on pages 61 to 95 form part of these financial statements

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Charity and Group Balance Sheets

As at 31 March 2024

Notes Group
Charity
2024
2023
2024
2023
£'000
£'000
£'000
£'000
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
11a
Intangible fixed assets
11b
Investments
12
Investments-cash deposits
12		 8,704
9,838
8,704
9,838
625
1,878
625
1,878
-
5,918
80
5,998
4,160
560
4,160
560
Total fixed assets
Current assets
Stock
Debtors
13
Cash at bank		 13,489
18,194
13,569
18,274
60
119
-
-
14,490
14,922
15,481
15,409
5,611
2,556
4,553
2,086
Total current assets
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
14		 20,161
17,597
20,034
17,495
8,548
8,830
8,517
8,824
Net current assets 11,613
8,767
11,517
8,671
Total assets less current liabilities
Provisions for liabilities and charges
15		 25,102
26,961
25,086
26,945
2,231
2,840
2,231
2,840
Net assets
Accumulated funds:
Unrestricted income funds:
General funds
16
Designated funds
16
Restricted income funds
17
Permanent endowment fund
16		 22,871
24,121
22,855
24,105
7,956
8,494
11,195
8,478
9,329
11,716
6,074
11,716
5,547
3,872
5,547
3,872
39
39
39
39
Total charity funds 22,871
24,121
22,855
24,105

The net movement in funds for the year for the charity only was -£1,323,292 (2023: £-9,107,000), not including gains/losses on investments.

The charity only income was £79,616,052 (2023: £72,127,000) less expenditure of £80,939,344 (2023: £81,234,000).

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 25[th] September 2024. They were signed on its behalf by:

Helen Baker

Chair of the Board of Trustees

Date of signing: 25th September 2024

Shelter company registration number 1038133

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Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

Year ended 31 March 2024

Notes 2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income/(expenditure) for the year (1,250) (9,235)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges 11 3,256 2,297
(Gains)/losses on investments 12 (73) 130
Income from investments 4 (205) (14)
(Increase)/decrease in stocks 59 (33)
(Increase)/decrease in debtors 432 1,655
Increase/(decrease) in creditors (282) 3,632
Increase/(decrease) in provisions 15 (609) (456)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities 1,328 (2,024)
Cash flows from investing activities
Income from investments 4 205 14
(Profit)/loss on disposal of fixed assets 11 40 -
Purchase of fixed assets 11 (909) (1,556)
Purchase of investments 12 - -
Cash withdrawn from the investment portfolio 12 2,391 -
(Increase)/decrease in investment cash 12 - (1)
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities 1,727 (1,543)
Change in cash in the year 3,055 (3,569)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 2,556 6,123
Cash at the end of the year 5,611 2,556
Net funds reconciliation
1 April 2023 Cash flows 31 March 2024
£'000 £'000 £'000
Cash at bank and in hand 2,556 3,055 5,611
Net cash 2,556 3,055 5,611

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Notes to the financial statements

1. Accounting policies

a) Basis of accounting

For freehold property, Shelter has taken the option afforded by FRS102 to value at deemed cost. See (g) below for further details. Listed investments are held at fair value. All other assets have been valued at historical cost.

b) Going concern

Shelter's financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis. An organisation is a going concern if it is expected to continue operations for the next twelve months. Shelter's trustees have assessed Shelter's ability to continue as a going concern for twelve months after the signing of the 2023/24 accounts, i.e. until September 2025.

Shelter's income, expenditure and cashflow have been projected up to March 2026. Income has been budgeted with economic conditions in mind and budget targets are considered to be realistic. Projections for 2024/25 show a balanced outlook, with cash and reserves closing 24/25 at or above policy levels.

Sensitivity analysis has been carried out to project the impact on cashflow of potential risks, including underperformance against budget of income targets, inflationary increases in the cost of energy and fuel, and inflationary effects on staff salaries. Inflationary increases are budgeted in line with Bank of England forecasts. The overall inflationary environment has become significantly less volatile and is of lower concern than previously.

After considering the current level of reserves and cash, the forecast to March 2026 and related sensitivities, and the mitigation actions available to the business (including obtaining external finance secured on freehold properties, if necessary), it is the opinion of the Trustees that the Group has adequate financial resources to continue its activities for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, these financial statements have been prepared using the going concern basis of preparation and a material uncertainty does not exist.

c) Group accounts

Group accounts have been prepared for Shelter, The National Campaign for Homeless People Limited, and its wholly owned subsidiary company, Shelter Trading Limited, in accordance with the requirements of FRS102. The accounts have been consolidated on a line-by-line basis to include the results of Shelter Trading Limited. The results of Shelter Trading Limited are shown in note 20. In accordance with section 408 of the Companies Act 2006, no individual statement of financial activities has been prepared for the parent company, Shelter, The National Campaign for Homeless People Limited.

d) Income

Income is included in the consolidated statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income, it is probable the income will be received, and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. If all three criteria are met in advance of cash being received, income is accrued.

Accrued income sits within debtors (see note 13). If any of the three criteria have not been met when cash is received, income is deferred. Deferred income sits within creditors (see note 14).

Other trading income represents non-primary purpose trading Shelter undertaken by Shelter Trading Limited with its corporate partners, such as commission in relation to sales using Shelter's brand and logo.

The following specific policies apply to categories of income:

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e) Expenditure

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis, meaning that it is recognised when goods or services are received. The statement of financial activities shows the costs of raising donations and legacies, retail operations and charitable activities. Each of these categories includes a proportion of support costs, comprising finance, IT, HR, facilities, in-house design and creative, and other corporate costs. These have been allocated to each category on the basis of full-time equivalent staff numbers, because that is the main driver of costs in the charity (see note 7).

f) Donated services and gifts in kind

Donated services and gifts in kind are included in the statement of financial activities where their value is ascertainable and material. The value of the contribution to Shelter is based on either market value or the amount Shelter would have paid for equivalent goods or services. Income is included under donations and legacies. An equal amount of expenditure is included under the relevant category, as determined by the nature of the goods or services. The net impact on the net income or expenditure for the year is nil. Volunteers' time has not been valued and is not included in the accounts.

g) Tangible assets and depreciation

Assets costing more than £1,000 which are intended to be in use for more than twelve months are capitalised as fixed assets. Other than freehold property, all categories of fixed assets are held on the balance sheet at historic cost less accumulated depreciation. Freehold property is held at market value as at 31 March 2014 less accumulated depreciation on the buildings. On transition to FRS102, the market value is deemed as cost at 1 April 2014.

Depreciation allocates the cost of a fixed asset over its useful life. The cost is recognised under the relevant category of cost in the statement of financial activities, depending on how the asset is used. At Shelter, depreciation is charged on a straight-line basis, meaning that the charge remains the same throughout the life of an asset. The useful lives of Shelter's assets are deemed to be as follows:

Freehold buildings 50 years
Short-leasehold buildings In line with the lease term
Freehold improvements 10 years
Furniture and fittings 4 years
Computer and office equipment 3 years
Vehicles 3 years

Freehold land on which buildings are constructed is not depreciated.

Freehold buildings may contain components with useful lives below 50 years. Where the impact is material, these components are held separately from the main building and are depreciated over their useful lives, which are determined on a case-by-case basis.

If an event occurs which indicates a material reduction in a fixed asset's carrying value, an impairment review will be carried out. Any impairment charge is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

h) Dilapidations

All dilapidation costs are provided for. Leases on Shelter's shops and offices usually include a contractual obligation for Shelter to return the property to its original condition at the end of the lease. The costs of doing this are estimated by a chartered surveyor at the commencement of the lease. Shelter recognises a provision and corresponding cost at that point. The provision is reviewed throughout the lease term. Dilapidation costs are payable on lease termination.

i) Cash and investments

Cash and cash equivalents at bank includes cash and short term highly liquid investments obtainable within three months from the date of acquisition. Cash held by Fund Managers in discretionary mandates is excluded from cash and cash equivalents and instead included in fixed asset investments.

Listed investments, such as shares and bonds, are held at market value. Any realised or unrealised gains resulting from movements in investments and changes in valuations are reflected in the statement of financial activities and are accounted for in the relevant fund (see (k) below). Other investments are held at cost less impairment, if applicable. These include investments in unlisted shares, and the investment in subsidiary company Shelter Trading Limited on the balance sheet of Shelter, The National Campaign for Homeless People Limited.

j) Stock

Stock consists of purchased goods held for resale by Shelter Trading Limited. Donated stock held for resale is not recognised as stock as it is not practicable to value it reliably. Stock is stated at the lower of cost or net realisable value. The income from sale of stock is recognised at point of sale.

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k) Fund accounting

Due to the constraints of law and donor-imposed restrictions, the charity segregates its funds between those that are restricted and those that are unrestricted. General funds represent the accumulated surplus on unrestricted income and expenditure and are available for use at the discretion of the Board in pursuing the general charitable objectives of the charity (see report of the trustees).

Designated funds are funds that have been set aside by the Board for a specific purpose. An analysis of designated funds is provided in note 16 to the financial statements.

Included in designated funds is a freehold property and fixed asset fund that represents the net book value of Shelter's freehold property and fixed assets. This fund has been separated from the general fund in recognition of the fact that the freehold property and fixed assets are used in Shelter's day-to-day work, and the fund value would not be easily realisable if needed to meet future liabilities.

Restricted funds represent income received where the donor or the nature of the appeal generating the income has imposed restrictions as to how the monies shall be used. Further detail on restricted funds is provided in note 17.

The endowment fund comprises a capital sum donated with the restriction that the money is invested and only the income arising is available for expenditure.

l) Operating leases

Rental expenditure applicable to operating leases is credited or charged to the consolidated statement of financial activities on a straight-line basis, in the period to which the cost relates.

m) Pension costs

Contributions to the company's defined contribution pension scheme are charged to the consolidated statement of financial activities in the year in which they are payable to the scheme.

n) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

o) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

p) Financial instruments

With the exception of the listed investments described above, the charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

q) Significant judgements and estimates

Key judgements that Shelter has made which have a significant impact on the accounts include legacy income (see (d)(1) above and note 2 below) and dilapidations provisions (see note 15). The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

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Income and expenditure

2. Donations and legacies: income and expenditure

2024 2024 2024 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income from donations and legacies:
Individuals 30,632 1,118 31,750 30,292
Donated services 409 - 409 279
Charitable foundations 1,431 1,983 3,414 2,800
Corporate donors 1,940 6,444 8,384 3,455
Lottery 2,172 - 2,172 1,767
Legacies 6,875 332 7,207 6,573
Total 43,459 9,877 53,336 45,166
Expenditure on raising donations and legacies:
Direct staff costs 7,537 61 7,598 7,678
Direct non-staff costs 8,619 114 8,733 9,909
Allocated support costs 2,199 39 2,238 1,833
Total 18,355 214 18,569 19,420

Shelter has been notified of legacies with an estimated value of £4.29m (2023: £6.30m) which have not been included in income for the year ended 31 March 2024, because either probate has not been received or Shelter is not satisfied that the amount receivable can be reliably measured.

Unrestricted non-staff costs of raising donations and legacies are primarily the costs of developing and distributing fundraising materials, and allocated support costs (see note 7).

3. Retail operations: income and expenditure

3.
Retail operations: income and expenditure
2024 2024 2024 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Income from retail operations:
Donated goods 12,129 - 12,129 11,871
Purchased goods 408 - 408 577
Other 440 - 440 425
Total 12,977 - 12,977 12,873
Expenditure on retail operations:
Direct staff costs 5,661 - 5,661 5,187
Direct non-staff costs 5,851 12 5,863 5,925
Allocated support costs 3,027 53 3,080 3,085
Total 14,539 65 14,604 14,197
Net income/(expenditure) available for charitable application (1,562) (65) (1,627) (1,324)

The retail chain made a gross contribution available for charitable application of £1.45m (2023: £1.76m) in the year ended 31 March 2024. After the application of support cost allocation (see note 7) the chain made a net loss of £1.62m (2023: £1.32m).

Whilst income remains strong, increasing slightly by £104k from 2023, the decrease in contribution was driven by the result of a further increase in direct costs which totalled £11.52m (2023: £11.11m, see note 7) which were driven up by the continued inflationary impact on staff wages and operating costs.

Other retail income primarily relates to stock ineligible for resale which is instead sold to recyclers of used materials.

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4. Income from investments

2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Interest on cash at bank 98 11
Dividends from listed securities 107 3
Total 205 14

5. Income from charitable activities

5.
Income from charitable activities
2024 2024 2024 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total Total
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Central government grants and contracts:
Scottish government grants - 344 344 372
Ministry of Justice contracts 652 - 652 602
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government grants and
contracts - 1,476 1,476 1,714
Other public body grants and contracts:
Legal Aid Agency contracts 249 1,684 1,933 1,421
Local authority grants and contracts 2,663 1,098 3,761 3,927
National Lottery grants - 98 98 157
Other agencies grants and contracts 422 112 534 2,041
Total statutory grant and contract income 3,986 4,812 8,798 10,234
Income from training and resources for housing professionals 1,169 993 2,162 2,107
Other income 1,499 680 2,179 1,945
Total income from charitable activities 6,654 6,485 13,139 14,286

Grant and contract income contributes towards housing advice and support, and training and resources for housing professionals. Other income is primarily comprised of grants from organisations which do not fall into any of the categories above, for example grant-giving charities. Other income does not include trusts and foundations, as income from these bodies is included under donations and legacies (see note 2).

In 2024 Shelter ceased to benefit from income received under government support schemes in response to the pandemic, which previously comprised of retail grants (see note 3), and the HMRC Job Retention Scheme.

In addition to the income shown in this note, Shelter also received £1.38m (2023: £0.40m) on behalf of partner organisations, to whom these funds were passed. This is not shown as income and expenditure as Shelter acted as an agent in regard to these funds. As at 31st March 2024 Shelter owed £158k to partners (2023: was owed £84k by councils) in relation to these funds.

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6. Contracts and grants from local authorities

Listed below are grants from and contracts with local authorities in excess of £2,000 recognised in the year ended 31 March 2024. The list is prepared in compliance with section 37 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

Funder Purpose of funding Income Expenditure
2024 2024
£’000 £’000
District, borough and county councils in England and Wales:
Birmingham City Council Provides a single point of access for single people 38 17
and childless couples who are homeless or at risk
of homelessness
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Provides debt, welfare benefit and housing advice 184 115
for residents of Blackburn with Darwin Council
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council To enable the secure sharing of service user data 120 73
to assist with the driving up standards of
accommodation and support provided in
supported accommodation.
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Provides welfare and debt information and advice 43 52
services within the Borough of Blackburn with
Darwen.
Borough Council of Kings Lynn & West Norfolk Provide a free, impartial confidential advice to the 69 68
residents of the district of King's Lynn & West
Norfolk regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, age, marital status or disability.
Borough Council of Kings Lynn & West Norfolk To support ex-offenders to access the private 43 39
rental sector with the ambition of supporting them
into sustainable accommodation.
Dorset Council Provide a Programme Coordinator for Dorset 57 55
Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment
Programme on behalf of Dorset Council in order for
the council to satisfy a number of health service
obligations
Dorset Council This contract is to provide intensive floating 53 80
support to 8 people who have been rough sleepers
in Dorset Council area.
Dorset Council To provide 10 properties in the Dorset Council area 81 79
for rough sleepers with very high/complex needs
whose needs are best met though the provision of
very intensive wraparound support.
Dorset County Council Provide Family Support Packages made up of 110 104
specialist housing, debt, money management and
welfare benefits advice and support to ensure
families are able to sustain their homes.
Liverpool City Council To provide specialist housing advice and support -29 100
to families residing in Liverpool to secure and
successfully maintain suitable and affordable
accommodation for their family, preventing
homelessness.
London Borough Of Hackney Intensive support of families at risk of 60 64
homelessness funding for one advice, support &
guidance worker to provide specialist level
housing & homelessness help to residents in
Hackney via face to face, telephone and online
support.
London Councils Providing specialist prevention support for adults 457 457
at risk of experiencing, homelessness in
partnership with Thames Reach, Stonewall
Housing and Praxis.

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London Councils* Supporting migrants and refugees with No -5 -
Recourse to Public Funding, as part of Supporting
Tenancies, Accommodation and Reconnections
project.
London Councils As part of the London Youth Gateway, Shelter 21 12
provides specialist advice, support & guidance on
any housing or homelessness issue to young
people between 16-25 years old.
London Councils As part of the London Youth Gateway, Shelter 34 43
provides specialist advice, support & guidance on
any housing or homelessness issue to young
people between 16-25 years old through a
dedicated London advice line.
London Councils To provide support to voluntary homelessness 69 73
service organisations and ensure they are aware of
the policies affecting their clients.
Manchester City Council To deliver an innovative support programme for 193 260
people with complex needs in Manchester who
are/at risk of homelessness.
Manchester City Council To provide a traineeship programme which 137 232
provides supported employment opportunities for
people who have a lived experience of multiple
disadvantages.
Norfolk City Council Manage and deliver part of Norwich city council's 26 -
social welfare information, advice and advocacy
service
Public Health England funding via Sheffield City To improve support and outcomes for people 110 133
Council experiencing rough sleeping who have drug and
alcohol dependence needs.
Sheffield City Council Provides both practical assistance and support to 898 1,056
help people who are at risk of losing their home,
and those who have been homeless to recover
quickly, settle into their accommodation and
sustain a positive lifestyle in the community.
Sheffield City Council A specialist non-clinical support service for people 337 387
with drug and alcohol misuse in a vulnerable
housing situation.
Sheffield City Council To provide specialist housing advice for residents 54 49
of safe accommodation, to work alongside the
providers of refuge and safe zones
accommodation, and to ensure that people receive
resettlement support to safely move on from safe
accommodation to home.
Sunderland City Council To contribute to preventing homelessness in 50 45
Sunderland through the delivery of specialist
housing advice within Sunderland, hosted by
Community Housing.
Westminster Borough Council Provision of frontline housing advice, 392 350
homelessness prevention and support services
Total 3,602 3,943

*The No Recourse to Public Funds grant finished in financial year 2021/22. Across financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22, Shelter was awarded £50,588 and spent £45,530. Shelter made a £5,058 repayment to London Councils for the No Recourse to Public Funding grant during financial year 2023/24.

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Local authorities in Scotland:
Aberdeen Council Housing advice for households at risk of 132 48
homelessness through legal proceedings.
North Lanarkshire Council Independent advocacy in relation to housing 25 17
issues for eligible persons in North Lanarkshire
Total 157 65
De minimis contracts and grants:
Other grants and contracts: income <£2k - -
Total - -

Note that the table above excludes funds that Shelter received on behalf of partner organisations, to whom these funds were passed. This is not shown as income and expenditure as Shelter acted as an agent in regard to these funds.

Local authority grants and contracts for the prior year are shown in note 20.

London Councils

London Councils
London Councils Grant Summary Grant awarded
£		 Grant spent
£
Lead Partner-Shelter 457,360 457,360
Delivery partners
Thames Reach 236,554 252,875
Praxis 102,351 102,364
Stonewall Housing 116,502 124,922
Delivery partner sub-total 455,407 480,161
Grand total 912,767 937,521
Expenditure on: Grant awarded
£		 Grant spent
£
Staffing 724,690 753,528
Running cost* 53,045 49,199
Premises cost 41,234 24,154
Central overheads 93,798 110,640
Total 912,767 937,521

*Running cost is comprised of travel & subsistence, IT & communication, translation, direct office cost, marketing cost, training cost, recruitment cost and client related cost.

Shelter received £912,767 from London Councils during financial year 2023/24.

Shelter works in partnership with other organisations to deliver this project. As lead partner, Shelter receives all income from London Councils and distributes it to the other partners.

Shelter has paid a total of £455,407 to partner organisations in 2023/24, as shown in the table above.

The entirety of the grant, including the portion retained by Shelter and that distributed to partners, has been spent in accordance with the grant agreement.

Total overspend on this project is £24,754. Thames Reach overspent by £16,321, Shelter overspent by £nil, Stonewall Housing by £8,420 and Praxis by £13. Shelter had a B/F balance of £nil from FY 22/23.

The 21/22 s37 disclosure confirmed that Shelter had underspent by £8,005. However, the 22/23 s37 disclosure incorrectly stated that Shelter had a brought forward balance of £8,005 from 21/22. To confirm, Shelter's underspend was not used to offset the total project overspends of £8,829 in 21/22 or £54,311 in 22/23 and £8,005 will be returned to London Councils.

The 21/22 s37 disclosure also stated that Shelter had a brought forward balance of £292 from FY19/20 and this was approved by London Councils to be used in FY 21/22. To confirm, the £292 was entirely spent in 21/22 on premises costs for the purposes of the grant.

The 21/22 s37 disclosure also stated that St Mungo's had been awarded £40,182, had spent £39,195 and underspent by £987. As a result of a St Mungo's review of balances held at the end of the 23/24 financial year, it was determined that in 21/22, St Mungo's had actually spent £45,244 and had therefore overspent by £5,062. The correct total 21/22 grant spent was £1,018,373 and the correct total overspend on the project was £14,878.

The 22/23 s37 disclosure cited St Mungo's as a partner instead of Praxis. To clarify, there were no payments made to St Mungo’s in 22/23. The London Councils Grant Summary should have confirmed that in 22/23, Praxis were awarded £100,604 awarded and spent £102,786.

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7. Direct and apportioned costs

(a) Breakdown of direct costs and apportioned support costs by type

Direct costs Apportioned
support costs		 Total costs
2024		 Total costs
2023
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Expenditure on:
Raising donations and legacies 16,331 2,238 18,569 19,420
Retail operations 11,524 3,080 14,604 14,197
Charitable activities:
Services:
National services 7,364 2,004 9,368 9,993
Community services 11,915 4,804 16,719 16,609
Legal services 4,627 1,725 6,352 6,266
Telephone and online advice services 4,649 1,995 6,644 6,991
Communication, policy and campaigns 7,449 1,865 9,314 8,374
Lived experienceinsight 754 330 1,084 920
Total expenditure on charitable activities 36,758 12,723 49,481 49,153
Total direct and apportioned costs 64,613 18,041 82,654 82,770

The analysis of charitable activities has been updated from the 2022-23 categories to better reflect Shelter's current activities, with prior year comparatives also updated to allow for like for like comparison.

Direct costs are directly attributable to the relevant department. Indirect support costs are apportioned on the basis of full-time equivalent staff numbers. Support costs are further broken down below.

Apportioned support costs include expenditure of £nil (2023: £2.14m) relating to a historic VAT liability identified during the prior year arising from an externally commissioned review of Shelter’s VAT compliance. This expenditure has been apportioned across charitable expenditure in the same manner as support fees, i.e. full-time equivalent staff numbers.

(b) Breakdown of apportioned support costs

(b) Breakdown of apportioned support costs
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Human resources 2,184 2,372
Equity, Inclusion & Culture 1,858 1,731
Finance 2,057 1,757
Information technology 8,172 6,901
Facilities 2,279 2,083
In-house design and creative 811 930
Other corporate costs 680 898
VAT - 2,136
Total apportioned support costs 18,041 18,808

Equity, Inclusion and Culture was included within Human Resources costs in 2023 and is now shown as a separate item, with the prior year figures split for like for like comparison.

Shelter's VAT liability was shown as a separate item in 2023 due to its material nature. Whilst there has been some movement on this provision in 2024 it is no longer of a material value and has therefore been absorbed into other corporate costs.

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8. Governance costs

8.
Governance costs
2024 2023
£'000 £'000
Fees payable to the external auditors for the audit of the group annual accounts 109 89
Fees payable to the external auditors for non-audit services 5 -
Internal audit 63 26
Trustee expenses, insurance and recruitment 59 24
Board and committee support costs* 56 57
Total 292 196

Governance costs are the costs of ensuring that Shelter is well managed and run. These include any costs relating to the Board of Trustees, who share ultimate responsibility for governing Shelter; and the cost of internal and external audit, which test Shelter's controls, processes and financial statements to help ensure good governance is in place.

9. Staff costs

Disclosure note on directors’ costs

The key management personnel of the charity comprises trustees and members of the Executive Leadership Team. Trustees are not remunerated. The total cost of employing the charity's Executive Leadership Team during the year, including employer's social security and pension contributions, was £971,937 (2023: £1,002,116). There are adequate systems in place to manage expenses and these do not form part of directors' remuneration.

The CEO's annual salary was £145,311 (2023: £141,868). Shelter's median salary was £30,374 (2023: £29,012), which represents a ratio against the highest salary of 4.78:1 (2023: 4.89:1). Shelter believes in and is committed to equal opportunities and offering fair pay and conditions. Shelter recognises that the attainment of equitable pay requires a pay system that is transparent and based on objective criteria. Shelter aims to pay staff a salary that is at the market median position of the relevant job market and benchmarks its salaries against service providers providing similar front-line services and with charities of comparable size and with comparable roles to ours.

Staff costs 2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Wages and salaries 43,886 41,418
Social security costs 4,380 4,271
Pension costs 3,398 3,148
Other staff-related costs 1,727 1,944
Total 53,391 50,781

Overall staff costs increased due to inflationary effects on staff salaries and Shelter's pay award in response to the cost-of-living crisis. Redundancy and termination costs during the year were £430,812 (2023: £420,540).

Average staff headcount 2024 2023
No. No.
Raising donations and legacies 121 123
Retail operations 191 174
Charitable activities:
National services 115 118
Community services 274 253
Legal services 101 103
Telephone and online advice services 116 141
Lived experience insight 20 17
Campaigning 65 37
Communication and policy 39 25
Support functions 195 176
Total 1,237 1,167

The split of employee headcount for charitable activities has been updated in line with the changes made to the presentation of expenditure on charitable activities, with 2023 comparatives similarly updated for consistency.

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The number of employees who received emoluments (excluding pensions) in the following ranges were:

2024 2023
No. No.
£60,001 to £70,000 29 16
£70,001 to £80,000 13 10
£80,001 to £90,000 4 2
£90,001 to £100,000 1 -
£101,001 to £110,000 4 2
£110,001 to £120,000 1 4
£120,001 to £130,000 2 -
£130,001 to £140,000 - -
£140,001 to £150,000 1 1

Volunteer contribution

Shelter has been supported by volunteers over the year in our shops, in our offices and at events. We would not have been able to achieve what we have done without their tremendous efforts.

2024 2023
No. No.
Groupnumber of volunteers 2,667 2,459

10. Leasing commitments – group and charity

As at 31 March 2024, the group and charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases fall due for payment as follows:

2024 2023
Land and
buildings		 Other Land and
buildings		 Other
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Operating leases which expire:
within one year 3,000 140 2,914 134
between one and five years 6,032 105 5,826 120
after more than fiveyears 400 - 238 -
Total lease commitments 9,432 245 8,978 254
The net income/(expenditure) for the year is stated after charging:
Rental costs relating to operating leases 3,127 218 3,346 177

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Assets

11. Fixed assets – group and charity a. Tangible fixed assets

Freehold buildings
and improvements		 Short leasehold
buildings		 Furniture and
fittings		 Computer and
office
equipment		 Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2023 7,000 371 9,092 7,066 23,529
Additions -
-		 499 410 909
Disposals - (371) (2,151) (127) (2,649)
At 31 March 2024 7,000 - 7,440 7,349 21,789
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023 (898) (325) (6,388) (6,080) (13,691)
Charge for the year (95) (14) (1,148) (746) (2,003)
Transfers - - - - -
Disposals - 339 2,149 121 2,609
At 31 March 2024 (993) - (5,387) (6,705) (13,085)
Net book values
At 31 March 2024 6,007 - 2,053 644 8,704
At 1 April 2023 6,102 46 2,704 986 9,838

Freehold buildings and improvements are comprised of Shelter's support office on Old Street in London. The cost of £7,000,000 is the market value as at 31 March 2014, which was taken to be deemed cost on transition to FRS102. This valuation includes £2,333,333 of land which is not depreciated.

b. Intangible fixed assets

Computer software
£’000
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2023 3,171
Additions -
At 31 March 2024 3,171
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023 (1,293)
Charge for theyear (1,253)
At 31 March 2024 (2,546)
Net book values
At31 March 2024 625
At 1 April 2023 1,878

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12. Investments – group and charity

12. Investments – group and charity
Group Group Charity Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
Total Total Total Total
Inv. Inv. Inv. Inv.
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Listed investments:
Investments at market value at 1 April 2023 5,918 6,048 5,918 6,048
Additions - - - -
Disposals (5,991) - (5,991) -
Netgain/(loss)for theyear 73 (130) 73 (130)
Listed investments - 5,918 - 5,918
Cash investments 4,160 560 4,160 560
Investment insubsidiary - - 80 80
Total investments at 31 March 2024 4,160 6,478 4,240 6,558
Historical cost: Listed investments as at 31 March 2024 - 5,362 80 5,442
Common strategy investment funds:
JP Morgan Liquidity Fund - 47 - 47
SUTL Charity Responsible Multi-Asset Fund - 5,871 - 5,871
Cash Investments:
Liquidity funds 3,990 - 3,990 -
Cazenove Cash Management 170 560 170 560
Total 4,160 6,478 4,160 6,478

13. Debtors

Group Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Trade debtors 4,239 5,240 3,984 4,366
Amounts due from subsidiary companies - - 1,904 1,335
Taxation recoverable - Gift Aid 1,147 1,641 1,147 1,641
Taxation recoverable - VAT - 141 - 141
Other debtors 1,577 1,423 1,577 1,423
Prepayments 1,790 1,672 1,790 1,672
Accrued income 5,737 4,805 5,079 4,831
Total debtors 14,490 14,922 15,481 15,409

Accrued income contains accrued legacies of £4.81m (2023: £4.22m).

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Liabilities

14. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Group Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Trade creditors 1,688 1,408 1,688 1,408
Amounts due for taxation and social security 3,857 4,098 3,857 4,098
Other creditors 68 7 68 7
Accruals 2,491 3,089 2,484 3,083
Deferred income 444 228 420 228
Total creditors 8,548 8,830 8,517 8,824
Movement on deferred income Group Charity
2024 2023 2024 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Deferred income brought forward 228 249 228 249
Realised during year to 31 March 2024 (228) (249) (228) (249)
Deferred inyear to 31 March 2024 444 228 420 228
Deferred income carried forward 444 228 420 228

Deferred income is comprised of:

  1. Grant receipts where Shelter has not yet satisfied each of the performance conditions set out by the donor, achievement of conditions is not yet within our control, or there is uncertainty as to whether they will be achieved.

  2. Contract receipts where goods or services have not yet been delivered as set out in the contract.

15. Provision for liabilities and charges – group and charity

2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Balance at 1 April 2023 2,840 3,296
Utilised during the year (89) (143)
Disposals in theyear (520) (313)
Balance at 31 March 2024 2,231 2,840

All dilapidation costs are provided for. Leases on Shelter's shops and offices usually include a contractual obligation for Shelter to return the property to its original condition at the end of the lease. The costs of doing this are estimated by a chartered surveyor at the commencement of the lease. Shelter recognises a provision and corresponding cost at that point. The provision is reviewed throughout the lease term. Dilapidation costs are payable on lease termination.

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Funds

16. Statement of funds

16. Statement of funds
Balance at Income and Total Net gain on Transfers Balance at
1 April 2023 endowments expenditure investments 31 March
2024
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Unrestricted income funds:
General funds 7,937 64,969 (67,967) - 3,017 7,956
Unrealised investmentgain 557 - - 73 (630) -
Total general funds 8,494 64,969 (67,967) 73 2,387 7,956
Designated funds:
Revaluation reserve 4,838 - - - (93) 4,745
Property and fixed asset fund 6,878 - - - (2,294) 4,584
Strategic investment fund - - - - - -
Total designated funds 11,716 - - - (2,387) 9,329
Total unrestricted funds 20,210 64,969 (67,967) 73 - 17,285
Restricted income funds (note 17) 3,872 16,362 (14,687) - - 5,547
Permanent endowment - John Rees Fund 39 - - - - 39
Total restricted funds 3,911 16,362 (14,687) - - 5,586
Total funds 24,121 81,331 (82,654) 73 - 22,871

The statement of funds for the prior year is shown in note 21.

Strategic investment fund

The first unrestricted legacy with a value exceeding £750,000 recognised in a given financial year will be split between funds. The first £750,000 will be recognised in general funds and utilised in day-to-day operations as normal. Any value above £750,000 will be recognised in the Strategic Investment Fund and designated for investment in strategically aligned projects. Subsequent unrestricted legacies exceeding £750,000 recognised in the same financial year will be designated in their entirety.

Revaluation reserve

Prior to 2014, Shelter held the Old Street support office at market value, as determined by periodic valuations. Changes in value were recognised in the revaluation reserve. On transition to FRS102, the market value at 31 March 2014 (£7m) was taken to be deemed cost and the support office has since been valued at historical cost. The revaluation reserve therefore holds the total value of revaluations to 31 March 2014, less depreciation charged on the building since.

Fixed asset fund

The property and fixed asset fund holds the remaining value of fixed assets not held in the revaluation reserve. Taken together, these two funds equal the net book value of fixed assets on the balance sheet. Fixed assets are held in designated funds in recognition of the fact that they are used by Shelter on an ongoing basis to deliver its activities

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17. Statement of restricted funds

Restricted fund name Funder Purpose of funding Balance at 1 April
2023
£'000		 Income
£'000		 Expenditure /
transfers
£'000		 Balance at 31
March 2024
£'000		 Balance at 31
March 2024
£'000
Providing funding and in-kind support for DIY skills advice - 531 (531)
DIY Skills Advisers B&Q Plc and Kingfisher Plc
and support services.		 -
Homelessness Pan- Providing training and support to London Local
London Umbrella (PLUS) Authorities and Voluntary Sector in order to increase
Project London Councils capacity and knowledge across the sector. 7 69 (73) 3
Supporting Tenancies,
Accommodation and Providing specialist prevention support for adults at risk
Reconnections London Councils of experiencing homelessness. (24) 457 (426) 7
Housing Law & Debt
Advice (Tayside & Borders)
- Scottish Housing Law Representation and advice services for people facing
Service Scottish Legal Aid Board court action for mortgage or tenancy repossession. 3 273 (278) (2)
To bring empty homes in Scotland back into use through
Empty Homes Scottish Government the establishment of Empty Homes officers. 90 398 (463) 25
To combine Shelter's organisational learnt experience
National Lottery with the lived experience of people who have been
Time for Change Dundee Community Fund homeless in Dundee to better develop responses locally. (1) - 1 -
National Lottery
Building Better Community
Opportunities Motiv8 - Fund/European Social Supporting disadvantaged individuals and families to
Manchester Hub Fund enter or re-enter education, training and/or employment. - 28 (28) -
Place based project to investigate how the Private Rented
Transforming the Private The Nationwide Sector in Greater Manchester can be improved for
Rented Sector Manchester
Foundation		 vulnerable tenants. 36 49 (85) -
Specialist Adviser Support
Services - Money Advice		 Money and Pensions
Service (MaPS) & the		 To provide professional support to debt advisers in
England and Wales through advice services and resource
Service Welsh Government production. 123 579 (681) 21
National Lottery To engage and inspire disadvantaged young and hard-to-
Lancashire Building Better
Community		 reach unemployed or economically inactive people and to
Opportunities (Age of Fund/European Social improve work readiness and employability of the over 50s
Opportunity) Fund in the Lancashire Area. - - - 76 of 95 -
Restricted fund name Funder Purpose of funding Balance at 1 April
2023
£'000		 Income
£'000		 Expenditure /
transfers
£'000		 Balance at 31
March 2024
£'000
National Lottery To engage and inspire disadvantaged young and hard-to-
Lancashire Building Better
Community		 reach unemployed or economically inactive people and to
Opportunities (Investing in Fund/European Social improve work readiness and employability of the over 50s
Youth) Fund in the Lancashire Area. 3 - - 3
National Lottery To engage and inspire disadvantaged young and hard-to-
Lancashire Building Better
Community		 reach unemployed or economically inactive people and to
Opportunities (Changing Fund/European Social improve work readiness and employability of the over 50s
Futures) Fund in the Lancashire Area. (7) - - (7)
Linking health, social services, advice and community
Norwich Social resources to maximise outcomes for individuals and
Prescribing Service Norfolk County Council reduce pressures on public services. 7 92 (102) (3)
To prevent children and families in Glasgow becoming
Our Journey Home National Lottery homeless; to secure safe and affordable permanent
Glasgow Community Fund accommodation. (1) - 1 -
To advise and support residents of Hackney in overcoming
housing problems and challenges. To support the
London Borough of development of an advice network in the district, one
Hackney Advice Grant Hackney which shares resources and expertise. - 60 (64) (4)
Health Now Coordinator Groundswell Network
Greater Manchester Support UK Tackling health inequalities faced by homeless people. 26 51 (66) 11
Sheffield - Domestic Philip King Charitable
Abuse Housing Support Trust/ Evan Cornish
Service Foundation Sheffield – Domestic Abuse Housing Support Service. 58 50 (71) 37
Children in Need, The
Garfield Weston Providing intensive support to families; going out into the
Children In Need Family Foundation and the Liz and
community to provide advice; training and building
Service Expansion Terry Bramall Foundation capacity across the sector. 39 220 (247) 12
Restricted to Sheffield
Rough Sleeping, Drug, and To provide housing support to entrenched rough sleepers
Alcohol Service Sheffield City Council to help them move into independent living. 24 110 (132) 2
To combine Shelter's organisational learnt experience
National Lottery with the lived experience of people who have been
Time for Change Dundee Community Fund homeless in Dundee to better develop responses locally. 9 49 (46) 12
Developing a training programme and comprehensive
advice for the financial services sector; to better support
Restricted to HSBC vulnerable customers experiencing or at risk of
Breaking the Cycle HSBC homelessness. 79 - (75) 4

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Restricted fund name Funder Purpose of funding Balance at 1 April
2023
£'000		 Income
£'000		 Expenditure /
transfers
£'000		 Balance at 31
March 2024
£'000
Providing advice to families in deprived communities
across Birmingham and building the capacity of
Birmingham Families Oak Foundation grassroots organisations to support their communities. 44 567 (437) 174
Funding for local organisations to work in partnership to
better support those who experience multiple
disadvantages, including homelessness, substance
Changing Futures - misuse, mental health issues, domestic abuse, and
Manchester Manchester City Council contact with the criminal justice system. 32 194 (226) -
Funding over three years (September 2022 to August
2025) to fund Shelter England and Scotland (in partnership
with Shelter Cymru and Housing Rights NI) to train RBL
advisors to advise veterans on housing issues directly,
RBL Homeless Armed such as homelessness, accessing housing, eligibility,
Forces The Royal British Legion advocacy and more. 172 284 (270) 186
Funds GROW Traineeships across Greater Manchester,
including at the GMCA and four Local Authority areas.
Provides meaningful employment roles for people who
Changing Futures GROW have experienced multiple disadvantages and supports
Campus - Greater Greater Manchester systemic change by removing barriers to employment and
Manchester Combined Combined Authority creating opportunities for Local Authorities to co-produce
Authority (GMCA) and co-deliver their services. 96 137 (232) 1
Funding over two and a half years (April 2022 - September
2024) to set up an automated triage system for Shelter's
helpline and webchat, so that only priority calls get
TOAS Triage Project Fidelity UK Foundation through to advisors. 39 268 (189) 118
Department for Levelling To build the capacity, skills and knowledge of a range of
frontline staff and volunteers in England through the
Up, Housing and provision of effective, quality homelessness and housing
VCFS Lot 1 Training Communities (DLUHC) training, information resources and skills development. 69 667 (736) -
The specialist advice team to deliver housing,
homelessness and welfare benefit advice via telephone,
webchat and digital tools, to new and existing frontline
audiences. This service will be for professional and
Department for Levelling volunteer use only and it will not deliver advice directly to
Up, Housing and the general public or people who are at risk of or are
VCFS Lot 2 Advice Line Communities (DLUHC) experiencing homelessness. 71 809 (880) -
Providing Housing Right Workers based within Liverpool
City Council’s Families Teams, providing a dedicated
Liverpool City Council resource for vulnerable families experiencing / at risk of
Families Team Liverpool City Council homelessness. 129 (29) (100) -

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Restricted fund name Funder Purpose of funding Balance at 1 April
2023
£'000		 Income
£'000		 Expenditure /
transfers
£'000		 Balance at 31
March 2024
£'000
To support those service users going through transition
from secure care into the community, or those living in the
Birmingham FIRST Peer Birmingham and Solihull community experiencing mental health concerns with
Mentor Services-St Mental Health Foundation improving engagement with services and resilience in the
Andrews Trust (NHS England) community. (3) 65 (62) -
A Future Foundation for To work with families and their supports in the Glasgow
Families (National Lottery National Lottery city area to effect positive changes at individual and
Community Fund) Community Fund system level. 97 103 (105) 95
Network Rail Southern Outreach person centred support for people who are
Region Network Rail sleeping rough in train stations. 35 344 (337) 42
Funded contract as part of the Salford Innovation and
Improvement Fund aiming at improving neighbourhood-
based care. Peer-led service supporting those
Salford Integrated Care experiencing homelessness to get better access to
Salford HHPA Partnership (NHS) healthcare. 83 - (83) -
For Shelter’s Hardship Fund, allowing clients to purchase
essential items and emergency accommodation when
Hardship Fund (England) Albert Hunt Trust they reach crisis point. 30 158 (91) 97
Improving Outcomes The Access to Justice For Shelter’s National Legal Team, to provide specialist
Through Legal Support Foundation legal support to clients from across the country. - 83 (85) (2)
Funding development of new digital advice pages focused
on helping people to become more financially resilient.
Funding our housing, debt, welfare and benefits advice
Restricted to HSBC offering in England (Birmingham and Lancashire) and
Delivery HSBC Scotland. - 2,942 (921) 2,021
Research report examining the impact of temporary
Children in Temporary accommodation on children in Scotland. Findings due to
Accommodation Research be published in December 2024 and report will support
(Scotland) Multiple Donors Shelter Scotland’s advocacy and campaigning efforts. - 148 (37) 111
Funding our GROW programme to help people with lived
experience of homelessness into employment through
access to 12-month paid placements with work, training
Société Générale GROW Société Générale and personal development opportunities. - 444 151 595
Funding a new digital advice project to improve clients
accessibility to our damp and mould advice on web and
HG Digital Advice HG UKI Ltd mobile. - 131 - 131

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Restricted fund name Funder Purpose of funding Balance at 1 April
2023
£'000		 Income
£'000		 Expenditure /
transfers
£'000		 Balance at 31
March 2024
£'000
Campaigning in partnership to demand a fairer private
Restricted to Co-operative rented system - ending unfair evictions and unsafe
Bank delivery The Co-operative Bank housing and securing stronger rights for all renters. - 157 (85) 72
Funding our policy and communications work, funding our
Community Services outreach in hubs across England and
Nationwide Building Scotland, funding our emergency helpline in England and
CPC Delivery Society Scotland. - 80 (27) 53
To establish a role in the Shelter legal team with a focus
Children and Families on providing legal support for children and families where
Safeguarding Solicitor Multiple Donors safeguarding specialist knowledge and advice is required. - 95 - 95
Small donations restricted to specific areas of work in
Restricted - Scotland Multiple Donors Scotland. 350 736 (1,086) -
Small donations restricted to specific areas of work in
Restricted - Services Multiple Donors England. 628 4,422 (4,933) 117
Other funds: income
<£60k* Multiple Donors Various. 1,529 541 (550) 1,520
Total 3,872 16,362 (14,687) 5,547

*Restricted funds with income below £60,000 have been grouped in a single row, unless Shelter is required to disclose them separately under the terms of the grant agreement.

Included in the note is the following projects funded by the National Lottery Community Fund:

Time for Change Dundee, for which Shelter received £48,985.65 and spent £46,457.59 in 23/24 Building Better Opportunities Motiv8, for which Shelter received £27,794.82 and spent £27,794.82 in 23/24

A Future Foundation for Families, for which Shelter received £102,733 and spent £105,479.82 in 23/24

We are grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund for supporting our Devon and Cornwall housing advice service, through their Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund.

Included in the Other funds: income <£60k Multiple Donors income and expenditure is the Safer Sheffield Partnership. In 23/24, Shelter received funding of £6,600 and spent £4,270.59. The remaining £2,329.41 will be spent by June 2024 when the grant agreement ends.

The statement of restricted funds for the prior year is shown in note 21.

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18. Net assets between funds – group

Group
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total
funds funds funds funds
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fund balances as at 31 March 2024 are represented by:
Tangible fixed assets 9,329 - - 9,329
Investments 4,121 - 39 4,160
Net current assets 6,066 5,547 - 11,613
Provisions (2,231) - - (2,231)
Total net assets 17,285 5,547 39 22,871

Other information

19. Related party transactions

Trustees are not entitled to, and did not receive, any remuneration in respect of their services throughout the year. Travel expenses incurred by trustees in respect of Shelter meetings amounted to £5,951 (2023: £5,779) during the year. The number of trustees incurring expenses during the year was eight (2023: seven).

Shelter received donations totalling £20,540 from trustees during the year (2023: £30,665).

During the year ended 31 March 2024 the following related party transactions were recognised:

Polly Neate is chair and Andy Harris is a trustee of the charity Become, which was invoiced £546 for office rental during the year (2023: £258 for office rental). A balance of £nil was owed to Shelter as at 31 March 2024 (2023: £258).

Shelter Trading Limited is a trading subsidiary of Shelter. During the year ended 31 March 2024 Shelter received gift aid of £472,630 from Shelter Trading Limited (2023: £383,977). A balance of £1,904k was owed to Shelter by Shelter Trading Limited as at 31 March 2024 (2023: £1,365k). A service charge by Shelter to Shelter Trading Limited was made of £794,797 (2023: £596,556) for the share of Shelter staff time spent on the activities of Shelter Trading Limited.

There were no other related party transactions during the year ended 31 March 2024.

20. Trading subsidiary

The principal activities of Shelter Trading Limited (company no. 02573404) in the period under review were the sale of new goods via Shelter’s retail chain, managing the corporate sponsorship activities of Shelter, the National Campaign for Homeless People Limited, and the sale of donated goods under the retail gift aid scheme on behalf of Shelter, the National Campaign for Homeless People Limited.

Audited financial statements have been prepared for Shelter Trading Limited and all taxable profit is gifted to Shelter.

Shelter Trading Limited 2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Total income 2,158 2,011
Cost of sales (206) (234)
Gross profit 1,952 1,777
Selling and distribution costs (1,292) (1,039)
Administration costs (229) (265)
Netprofitgifted to Shelter 431 473

As at 31 March 2024, Shelter Trading Limited had total assets of £2,030,850 (2023: £1,436,332) and total liabilities of £1,935,737 (2023: £1,341,219).

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Prior year disclosures

21. Prior year disclosures

21(a) Consolidated statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2023 (incorporating income and expenditure accounts)

Notes Unrestricted Restricted Total
Funds Funds 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 40,208 4,958 45,166
Charitable activities:
Grants and contracts for housing advice and support 5 4,024 6,210 10,234
Training and resources for housing professionals 5 1,013 1,094 2,107
Other 5 1,030 915 1,945
Retail operations 3 12,873 - 12,873
Investments 4 14 - 14
Other trading income 1,326 - 1,326
Total income and endowments 60,488 13,177 73,665
Expenditure on:
Raising donations and legacies 2 19,817 - 19,817
Retail operations 3 13,987 - 13,987
Charitable activities:
Housing advice and support:
Face-to-face advice 12,939 4,738 17,677
Intensive support 9,992 880 10,872
Telephone and online advice services 6,177 2,879 9,056
Training and resources for housing professionals 3,233 2,790 6,023
Campaigning 2,442 837 3,279
Research and policy 1,070 989 2,059
Total expenditure on charitable activities 35,853 13,113 48,966
Total expenditure 69,657 13,113 82,770
Net income/(expenditure) before investment gains/(losses) (9,169) 64 (9,105)
Net gains/(losses) on investments 12 (130) - (130)
Net income/(expenditure) for the year 20 (9,299) 64 (9,235)
Reconciliation of funds:
Fund balances at the start of the year 29,509 3,847 33,356
Fund at the end of the year 16, 18 20,210 3,911 24,121

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21(b) Donations and legacies: income and expenditure (prior year)

2023 2023 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total
£'000 £'000 £'000
Income from donations and legacies:
Individuals 29,474 818 30,292
Donated services 167 112 279
Charitable foundations 1,276 1,524 2,800
Corporate donors 1,201 2,254 3,455
Lottery 1,767 - 1,767
Legacies 6,323 250 6,573
Total 40,208 4,958 45,166
Expenditure on raising donations and legacies: 2023 2023 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total
£’000 £'000 £'000
Direct staff costs 7,678 - 7,678
Direct non-staff costs 9,909 - 9,909
Allocated support costs 2,332 - 2,332
Total 19,817 - 19,817

Shelter has been notified of legacies with an estimated value of £6.30m (2022: £4.33m) which have not been included in income for the year ended 31 March 2023, because either probate has not been received or Shelter is not satisfied that the amount receivable can be reliably measured.

Unrestricted non-staff costs of raising donations and legacies are primarily the costs of developing and distributing fundraising materials, and allocated support costs (see note 7).

In 2022 Lottery income was included within income received from individuals.

21(c) Retail operations: income and expenditure (prior year)

2023 2023 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Total
£'000 £'000 £'000
Income from retail operations:
Donated goods 11,871 - 11,871
Purchased goods 577 - 577
Other 425 - 425
Total 12,873 - 12,873
Expenditure on retail operations:
Direct staff costs 5,187 - 5,187
Direct non-staff costs and 5,925 - 5,925
Allocated support costs 2,875 - 2,875
Total 13,987 - 13,987
Net income/(expenditure) available for charitable application (1,114) - (1,114)
22(d) Income from investments (prior year)
2023
£'000
Interest on cash at bank 11
Listed securities 3
Total 14

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21(e) Contracts and grants from local authorities (prior year)

Listed below are grants from and contracts with local authorities in excess of £2,000 recognised in the year ended 31 March 2023. The list is prepared in compliance with section 37 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

Funder Purpose of funding Income Expenditure
2023 2023
£’000 £’000
District, borough and county councils in
England and Wales:
Birmingham City Council Provides a single point of access for single people and 88 106
childless couples who are homeless or at risk of
homelessness.
Birmingham City Council Support for rough sleeper clients who have not previously 25 13
engaged with services.
Blackburn with Darwen To enable the secure sharing of service user data to assist with 30 -
Borough Council the driving up standards of accommodation and support
provided in supported accommodation.
Blackburn with Darwen Provides welfare and debt information and advice services 150 167
Borough Council within the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen.
Blackburn with Darwen Supported accommodation pilot to create an informed view of - 13
Borough Council the provision of Support within the borough, taking account of
the different standards currently provided and the issues
facing residents.
Borough Council of Kings Lynn Provide a free, impartial confidential advice to the residents of 65 63
& West Norfolk the district of King's Lynn & West Norfolk regardless of race,
religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or
disability.
Borough Council of Kings Lynn To support ex-offenders to access the private rental sector 30 43
& West Norfolk with the ambition of supporting them into sustainable
accommodation.
Dorset Council Specific Local Authority funding for hardship payments - -
Dorset Council Provide a Programme Coordinator for Dorset Rough Sleeping 64 56
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programme on behalf of Dorset
Council in order for the council to satisfy a number of health
service obligations
Dorset Council This contract is to provide intensive floating support to 8 53 58
people who have been rough sleepers in Dorset Council area.
Dorset Council To provide 10 properties in the Dorset Council area for rough 79 88
sleepers with very high/complex needs whose needs are best
met though the provision of very intensive wraparound
support.
Dorset Council Community makeover project with B&Q, match funded by 3 3
Dorset Council.
Dorset Council Provide Family Support Packages made up of specialist 110 107
housing, debt, money management and welfare benefits
advice and support to ensure families are able to sustain their
homes.
Liverpool City Council To provide specialist housing advice and support to families 143 13
residing in Liverpool to secure and successfully maintain
suitable and affordable accommodation for their family,
preventing homelessness.
London Borough Of Hackney Intensive support of families at risk of homelessness funding 64 66
for one advice, support & guidance worker to provide
specialist level housing & homelessness help to residents in
Hackney via face to face, telephone and online support.
London Borough Of Hackney One-off award to recruit a Qualified Advisor to reduce Shelter's 24 24
backlog whist increasing availability of social welfare advice
for residents seeking support from the Council's health
partners.

84 of 95

London Councils Providing specialist prevention support for adults at risk of 469 501
experiencing, homelessness in partnership with Thames
Reach, Stonewall Housing, Praxis and St Mungo's.
London Councils As part of the London Youth Gateway, Shelter provides 20 24
specialist advice, support & guidance on any housing or
homelessness issue to young people between 16-25 years old.
London Councils As part of the London Youth Gateway, Shelter provides 34 43
specialist advice, support & guidance on any housing or
homelessness issue to young people between 16-25 years old
through a dedicated London advice line.
London Councils To provide support to voluntary homelessness service 36 32
organisations and ensure they are aware of the policies
affecting their clients.
Manchester City Council To deliver an innovative support programme for people with 133 203
complex needs in Manchester who are/at risk of
homelessness.
Manchester City Council To provide a traineeship programme which provides supported 225 129
employment opportunities for people who have a lived
experience of multiple disadvantages.
Norwich City Council Debt prevented and/ or reduced and improved financial 33 25
capability
Norwich City Council Specific Local Authority funding for Shelter employee's salary 35 42
costs
Public Health England funding To improve the mental health of the local community by - 47
via Blackburn Council focusing on systemic housing, welfare and benefits issues, all
of which impact negatively on mental health and wellbeing.
Public Health England funding To improve support and outcomes for people experiencing 92 73
via Sheffield City Council rough sleeping who have drug and alcohol dependence needs.
Sheffield City Council Provides both practical assistance and support to help people 897 1,014
who are at risk of losing their home, and those who have been
homeless to recover quickly, settle into their accommodation
and sustain a positive lifestyle in the community.
Sheffield City Council A specialist non-clinical support service for people with drug 320 353
and alcohol misuse in a vulnerable housing situation.
Sheffield City Council To provide specialist housing advice for residents of safe 64 64
accommodation, to work alongside the providers of refuge and
safe zones accommodation, and to ensure that people receive
resettlement support to safely move on from safe
accommodation to home.
Sunderland City Council To contribute to preventing homelessness in Sunderland 50 54
through the delivery of specialist housing advice within
Sunderland, hosted by Community Housing.
Westminster Borough Council Provision of frontline housing advice, homelessness 450 357
prevention and support services.
Total 3,786 3,781
Local authorities in Scotland:
Aberdeen Council Housing advice for households at risk of homelessness 44 39
through legal proceedings.
Glasgow City Council To establish a locally responsive model for homeless 72 73
individuals with multiple and complex needs in Glasgow.
North Lanarkshire Council Independent advocacy in relation to housing issues for eligible 24 1
persons in North Lanarkshire
Total 140 113
De minimis contracts and grants:
Various Othergrants and contracts: income <£2k 1 1
Total 1 1

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London Councils

London Councils Grant Summary Grant awarded
£		 Grant spent
£
LeadPartner-Shelter 469,284 500,791
Delivery partners
Thames Reach 235,693 255,232
St Mungo's 100,604 102,786
Stonewall Housing 117,932 119,015
Delivery partner sub-total 454,229 477,033
Grand total 923,513 977,824
Expenditure on: Grant awarded
£		 Grant spent
£
Staffing 714,057 760,725
Running cost* 77,063 85,546
Premises cost 36,414 26,866
Central overheads 95,979 104,687
Total 923,513 977,824

*Running cost is comprised of travel & subsistence, IT & communication, translation, direct office cost, marketing cost, training cost, recruitment cost and client related cost.

Shelter received £923,513 from London Councils during financial year 2022/23.

Shelter works in partnership with other organisations to deliver this project. As lead partner, Shelter receives all income from London Councils and distributes it to the other partners.

Shelter has paid a total of £454,229 to partner organisations in 2022/23, as shown in the table above.

The entirety of the grant, including the portion retained by Shelter and that distributed to partners, has been spent in accordance with the grant agreement.

The total overspend on this project is £54,311. Thames Reach overspent by £19,539. Shelter overspent by £31,507, Stonewall Housing by £1,083 and Praxis by £2,182. Shelter had a B/F balance of £8,005 from FY 21/22.

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21(f) Direct and apportioned costs (prior year)

(a) Breakdown of direct costs and apportioned support costs by type

Direct costs Apportioned support
costs		 Total costs 2023
£'000 £'000 £'000
Expenditure on:
Raising donations and legacies 17,485 2,332 19,817
Retail operations 11,112 2,875 13,987
Charitable activities:
Housing advice and support:
Face-to-face advice 12,622 5,055 17,677
Intensive support 8,076 2,796 10,872
Telephone and online advice services 6,323 2,733 9,056
Training and resources for housing professionals 4,619 1,404 6,023
Campaigning 2,527 752 3,279
Research and policy 1,582 477 2,059
Total expenditure on charitable activities 35,749 13,217 48,966
Total direct and apportioned costs 64,346 18,424 82,770

Direct costs are directly attributable to the relevant department. Indirect support costs are apportioned on the basis of full-time equivalent staff numbers. Support costs are further broken down below.

The method for allocating support costs has been updated to better reflect the operational resources required to run the retail chain, as also referenced in note 3.

Apportioned support costs include expenditure of £2.14m relating to a historic VAT liability identified during the year arising from an externally commissioned review of Shelter’s VAT compliance. This expenditure has been apportioned across charitable expenditure in the same manner as support fees, i.e., full-time equivalent staff numbers.

(b) Breakdown of apportioned support costs

2023
£'000
Human resources 3,649
Finance 1,757
Information technology 6,777
Facilities 2,153
In-house design and creative 930
Other corporate costs 1,022
VAT 2,136
Total apportioned support costs
18,424

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21(g) Statement of funds (prior year)

21(g) Statement of funds (prior year)
Balance at Income and Total Net gain on Transfers Balance at
1 April 2022 endowments expenditure investments 31 March
2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Unrestricted income funds:
General funds 14,771 60,443 (69,612) - 2,335 7,937
Unrealised investmentgain 2,281 - - (130) (1,594) 557
Total general funds 17,052 60,443 (69,612) (130) 741 8,494
Designated funds:
Revaluation reserve 4,931 -
-		 - (93) 4,838
Property and fixed asset fund 7,526 -
-		 - (648) 6,878
Strategic investment fund - 45 (45) - - -
Total designated funds 12,457 45 (45) - (741) 11,716
Total unrestricted funds 29,509 60,488 (69,657) (130) - 20,210
Restricted income funds (note 17) 3,808 13,177 (13,113) - - 3,872
Permanent endowment - John Rees Fund 39 - - - - 39
Total restricted funds 3,847 13,177 (13,113) - - 3,911
Total funds 33,356 73,665 (82,770) (130) - 24,121

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21(h) Statement of restricted funds (prior year)

21(h) Statement of restricted funds (prior year)
Restricted fund name
Funder
Purpose of funding		 Balance at 1
April 2022
£'000
Income
£'000
Expenditure /
transfers
£'000
Balance at 31
March 2023
£'000
DIY Skills Advisers
B&Q Limited and
Kingfisher Plc
Providing funding and in-kind support for DIY skills
advice and support services.
National Homelessness
Advice Service
Ministry of Housing,
Communities and Local
Government
Provide nationally consistent, free, quality
homelessness and housing advice, training and
information to frontline audiences in England.
Supporting Tenancies,
Accommodation and
Reconnections
London Councils
Providing specialist prevention support for adults at risk
of experiencing homelessness.
Housing Law & Debt
Advice (Tayside &
Borders) - Scottish
Housing Law Service
Scottish Legal Aid Board
Representation and advice services for people facing
court action for mortgage or tenancy repossession.
Empty Homes
Scottish Government
To bring empty homes in Scotland back into use through
the establishment of Empty Homes officers.
Justice Fellowship
Legal Education
Foundation
Providing legal services across our Hubs in Manchester
and Plymouth, offering a range of services to assist
people facing homelessness or housing issues,
including litigation and specialist advice.
Time for Change Dundee
National Lottery
Community Fund
To combine Shelter's organisational learnt experience
with the lived experience of people who have been
homeless in Dundee to better develop responses locally.
Building Better
Opportunities Motiv8 -
Manchester Hub
National Lottery
Community
Fund/European Social
Fund
Supporting disadvantaged individuals and families to
enter or re-enter education, training and/or
employment.		 40
707
(747)
-
44
479
(506)
17
8
469
(501)
(24)
(1)
289
(285)
3
154
393
(457)
90
40
68
(109)
(1)
-
-
(1)
(1)
3
120
(123)
-

89 of 95

Restricted fund name
Funder
Purpose of funding		 Balance at 1
April 2022
£'000
Income
£'000
Expenditure /
transfers
£'000
Balance at 31
March 2023
£'000
Transforming the Private
Rented Sector
Manchester
The Nationwide
Foundation
Place based project to investigate how the Private
Rented Sector in Greater Manchester can be improved
for vulnerable tenants.
Specialist Adviser
Support Services - Money
Advice Service
Money and Pensions
Service (MaPS) & the
Welsh Government
To provide professional support to debt advisers in
England and Wales through advice services and
resource production.
Lancashire Building
Better Opportunities (Age
of Opportunity)
National Lottery
Community
Fund/European Social
Fund
To engage and inspire disadvantaged young and hard-
to-reach unemployed or economically inactive people
and to improve work readiness and employability of the
over 50s in the Lancashire Area.
Lancashire Building
Better Opportunities
(Investing in Youth)
National Lottery
Community
Fund/European Social
Fund
To engage and inspire disadvantaged young and hard-
to-reach unemployed or economically inactive people
and to improve work readiness and employability of the
over 50s in the Lancashire Area.
Lancashire Building
Better Opportunities
(Changing Futures)
National Lottery
Community
Fund/European Social
Fund
To engage and inspire disadvantaged young and hard-
to-reach unemployed or economically inactive people
and to improve work readiness and employability of the
over 50s in the Lancashire Area.
Norwich Social
Prescribing Service
Norfolk County Council
Linking health, social services, advice and community
resources to maximise outcomes for individuals and
reduce pressures on public services.
Our Journey Home
Glasgow
National Lottery
Community Fund
To prevent children and families in Glasgow becoming
homeless; to secure safe and affordable permanent
accommodation.
Hackney Advice Grant
London Borough of
Hackney
To advise and support residents of Hackney in
overcoming housing problems and challenges. To
support the development of an advice network in the
district, one which shares resources and expertise.		 40
101
(105)
36
194
569
(640)
123
5
28
(33)
-
3
16
(16)
3
(13)
66
(60)
(7)
22
101
(116)
7
71
-
(71)
-
2
64
(66)
-

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Restricted fund name
Funder
Purpose of funding		 Balance at 1
April 2022
£'000
Income
£'000
Expenditure /
transfers
£'000
Balance at 31
March 2023
£'000
Health Now Coordinator
Greater Manchester
Groundswell Network
Support UK
Tackling health inequalities faced by homeless people.
Sheffield - Domestic
Abuse Housing Support
Service
Philip King Charitable
Trust/ Evan Cornish
Foundation
Sheffield – Domestic Abuse Housing Support Service.
Outreach Service
(Network Rail)
Network Rail
To support the rail industry’s ambition to provide a route
out of homelessness for every person sleeping rough
around the rail network.
ASG Foodbank Outreach
National Lottery
Community Fund
To provide housing related and other social welfare
advice to residents of London, to create links with other
advice agencies and provide housing awareness
workshops to upskill non specialists in the
voluntary/third sector
Children In Need Family
Service Expansion
Children in Need, The
Garfield Weston
Foundation and the Liz
and Terry Bramall
Foundation
Providing intensive support to families; going out into
the community to provide advice; training and building
capacity across the sector.
Legal Education
Foundation
Legal Education
Foundation
Funding to support a trainee Solicitor within our Law
Service who will work on strategic litigation arising from
casework referrals.
Glasgow Community
Grant
Glasgow City Council
Working with people with lived experience of
homelessness in Glasgow so they can be part of and
inform our work tackling the housing emergency whilst
undergoing personal journeys of development.
Restricted to Sheffield
Rough Sleeping, Drug,
and Alcohol Service
Sheffield City Council
To provide housing support to entrenched rough
sleepers to help them move into independent living.		 29
89
(92)
26
11
105
(58)
58
63
456
(321)
198
26
-
(26)
-
40
224
(225)
39
21
74
(97)
(2)
2
72
(73)
1
5
92
(73)
24

91 of 95

Restricted fund name
Funder
Purpose of funding		 Balance at 1
April 2022
£'000
Income
£'000
Expenditure /
transfers
£'000
Balance at 31
March 2023
£'000
Research on Temporary
Accommodation
Joseph Rowntree
Foundation
&
Trust for London
To conduct a survey of over one thousand people living
in temporary accommodation and brought together
findings from this, as well as recommendations for
policy change, in a piece of research titled Still Living in
Limbo: Why the use of temporary accommodation must
end.
Time for Change Dundee
National Lottery
Community Fund
To combine Shelter's organisational learnt experience
with the lived experience of people who have been
homeless in Dundee to better develop repsonses locally.
Changing Futures -
Manchester
Manchester City Council
Funding for local organisations to work in partnership to
better support those who experience multiple
disadvantage, including homelessness, substance
misuse, mental health issues, domestic abuse, and
contact with the criminal justice system.
RBL Homeless Armed
Forces
The Royal British Legion
Funding over three years (September 2022 to August
2025) to fund Shelter England and Scotland (in
partnership with Shelter Cymru and Housing Rights NI)
to train RBL advisors to advise veterans on housing
issues directly, such as homelessness, accessing
housing, eligibility, advocacy and more.
Changing Futures GROW
Campus - Greater
Manchester Combined
Authority
Greater Manchester
Combined Authority
(GMCA)
Funds GROW Traineeships across Greater Manchester,
including at the GMCA and four Local Authority areas.
Provides meaningful employment roles for people who
have experienced multiple disadvantage and supports
systemic change by removing barriers to employment
and creating opportunities for Local Authorities to co-
produce and co-deliver their services.
TOAS Triage Project
Fidelity UK Foundation
Funding over two and a half years (April 2022 -
September 2024) to set up an automated triage system
for Shelter's helpline and webchat, so that only priority
calls get through to advisors.		 26
62
(84)
4
11
46
(47)
10
101
133
(203)
31
-
318
(146)
172
-
225
(129)
96
-
72
(33)
39

92 of 95

Restricted fund name
Funder
Purpose of funding		 Balance at 1
April 2022
£'000
Income
£'000
Expenditure /
transfers
£'000
Balance at 31
March 2023
£'000
VCFS Lot 1 Training
Department for Levelling
Up, Housing and
Communities (DLUHC)
To build the capacity, skills and knowledge of a range of
frontline staff and volunteers in England through the
provision of effective, quality homelessness and
housing training, information resources and skills
development.
VCFS Lot 2 Advice Line
Department for Levelling
Up, Housing and
Communities (DLUHC)
The specialist advice team to deliver housing,
homelessness and welfare benefit advice via telephone,
webchat and digital tools, to new and existing frontline
audiences. This service will be for professional and
volunteer use only and it will not deliver advice directly
to the general public or people who are at risk of or are
experiencing homelessness.
Liverpool City Council
Families Team
Liverpool City Council
Providing Housing Right Workers based within Liverpool
City Council’s Families Teams, providing a dedicated
resource for vulnerable families experiencing / at risk of
homelessness.
Birmingham and Solihull
NHS Trust Peer Mentors
Birmingham and Solihull
Mental Health Foundation
Trust (NHS England)
To support service users who come into contact with
the Criminal Justice System and are experiencing
mental health conditions to reduce re-offending
behaviours and improve their engagement and
resilience in the community.
Birmingham FIRST Peer
Mentor Services-St
Andrews
Birmingham and Solihull
Mental Health Foundation
Trust (NHS England)
To support those service users going through transition
from secure care into the community, or those living in
the community experiencing mental health concerns
with improving engagement with services and
resilience in the community.
A Future Foundation for
Families (National Lottery
Community Fund)
National Lottery
Community Fund
To work with families and their supports in the Glasgow
city area to effect positive changes at individual and
system level.
Network Rail Southern
Region
Network Rail
Outreach person centred support for people who are
sleeping rough in train stations.		 -
787
(718)
69
-
654
(583)
71
-
143
(13)
130
-
121
(95)
26
-
97
(100)
(3)
-
97
-
97
-
175
(140)
35

93 of 95

Restricted fund name
Funder
Purpose of funding		 Balance at 1
April 2022
£'000
Income
£'000
Expenditure /
transfers
£'000
Balance at 31
March 2023
£'000
Family Adviser Post
(Aberdeen)
Anonymous
Supporting families and pregnant women facing
homelessness to improve their housing outcomes as
well as gathering insights and lived experience to effect
long term change for these groups.
Salford HHPA
Salford Integrated Care
Partnership (NHS)
Funded contract as part of the Salford Innovation and
Improvement Fund aiming at improving neighbourhood
based care. Peer-led service supporting those
experiencing homelessness to get better access to
healthcare.
Restricted - Scotland
Various
Small donations restricted to specific areas of work in
Scotland.
Restricted - Services
Various
Small donations restricted to specific areas of work in
England.
Other funds: income
<£60k*
Various
Various		 -
123
(11)
112
-
90
(7)
83
18
1,061
(729)
350
876
3,649
(3,897)
628
1,967
742
(1,377)
1,332
Total 3,808
13,177
(13,113)
3,872

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21(i) Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year)

Group
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total
funds funds funds funds
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Fund balances as at 31 March 2023 are represented by:
Tangible fixed assets 11,716 - - 11,716
Investments 6,439 - 39 6,478
Net current assets 4,895 3,872 - 8,767
Provisions (2,840) - - (2,840)
Total net assets 20,210 3,872 39 24,121

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