More than 300,000 people – equivalent to a city the size of Newcastle – are now sleeping rough in Britain after the number of people losing their home soared in the last year, a report has revealed.
The study, by housing charity Shelter, found that 307,000, or one in every 200, people are now homeless.
Although the figure has risen by 13,000 in the last year alone, Shelter said the partial nature of government data means the real number of homeless people is likely to be even higher. Homelessness has increased by 34 per cent since the Conservatives entered office in 2010.
Government welfare changes, including the introduction of Universal Credit and cuts to housing benefit, are partly to blame for the crisis, the charity said. It added that a “drought” of affordable homes had also made it particularly hard for people to escape homelessness.
In the borough of Newham, where one in every 25 people is homeless. The boroughs of Haringey (one in 29), Westminster (one in 31) and Enfield (one in 33) follow not far behind.
Shelter said more than a third of people currently living in temporary accommodation will still be homeless in a year’s time.
Polly Neate, Shelter’s chief executive, said: “It’s shocking to think that today, more than 300,000 people in Britain are waking up homeless. Some will have spent the night shivering on a cold pavement, others crammed into a dingy, hostel room with their children. And what is worse, many are simply unaccounted for. On a daily basis, we speak to hundreds of people and families who are desperately trying to escape the devastating trap of homelessness. A trap that is tightening thanks to decades of failure to build enough affordable homes and the impact of welfare cuts."
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