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Shelter<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nCraig David has returned to his childhood council house to push for social housing, which he said “heartbreakingly” many children do not have access to.<\/p>\n The singer, whose hits include 7 Days, lived on the Holyrood Estate near Southampton city centre from the age of one until his music career took off in his early 20s.<\/p>\n He has made a film for housing charity Shelter’s campaign, going back to the estate with his mother Tina.<\/p>\n “Growing up in a social home meant everything to me,” said the 43-year-old.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “It wasn’t just a place to live – it was a space where I felt secure, supported and able to be myself.<\/p>\n “The sense of community was so strong too. We looked out for each other and that made all the difference.”<\/p>\n The Shelter film follows David meeting the family who now live in his former home, as well as speaking about his childhood and his early career.<\/p>\n While living in the area, he came up with songs for his 2000 debut album, Born to Do It, which became the fastest-selling debut by a British male solo act at the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Going back with Shelter to visit my old home, and still feeling that same energy, reminded me just how powerful the foundation of a stable, loving home can be.”<\/p>\n The garage singer said it was “heartbreaking to think so many children today don’t have that same chance”.<\/p>\n “Every child deserves the security, support and sense of belonging I was lucky enough to grow up with – and that means investing in social housing,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mairi MacRae, director of campaigns and policy at Shelter, said the housing and homelessness charity was grateful to David for showing “how powerful and life-changing a social home can be – providing the solid foundation for a successful career and future”.<\/p>\n She said: “That’s a world away from what growing numbers of homeless children are facing today – living in temporary accommodation where instability looms over them, never knowing if they’ll be forced to move again, leaving their schools and communities behind.”<\/p>\n The charity is calling on the government to commit to investing in 90,000 social homes a year for the next 10 years in its June spending review.<\/p>\n A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said the Government was “taking urgent action to fix the broken system we inherited”.<\/p>\n They said ministers were doing this “through our Plan for Change, injecting \u00a32 billion to help deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, investing in homelessness services, and bringing forward overdue reforms to the Right to Buy scheme that will protect the stock of existing social housing”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250409-091508-0ef9b7676-web-2.19.1-12\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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Shelter<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Shelter](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/6b55\/live\/842b83b0-1a9c-11f0-a6b4-51574526cd6f.jpg.webp\")
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