14 December 2023 , 00:01
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At least 309,000 people in England will spend Christmas without a home, including almost 140,000 children, grim new figures show.
The research from Shelter finds a staggering one in 182 people are homeless. The charity's data also shows the problem has grown rapidly in the past year with over 3,000 people sleeping rough on any given night, up 26%.
Some 279,400 are living in temporary accommodation - a 14% increase - after 13 years of Tory rule. Official figures earlier this year showed the number of families stuck in temporary accommodation hit the highest levels since records began 25 years ago. There are also 20,000 people in hostels or supported accommodation including B&Bs and cramped bedsits.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Homelessness is on nobody’s Christmas list, but 309,000 people will spend this time of year in a tiny hostel room or freezing in a doorway. The housing emergency is out of control.
"Chronic underinvestment in social homes has left people unable to afford skyrocketing private rents and plunged record numbers into homelessness. It is appalling that the government has allowed thousands of families to be packed into damp and dirty B&B’s and hostel rooms, which are traumatising children and making people desperately ill.”
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Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: “These figures are a damning indictment of 13 years of Conservative failure. Year after year, ministers have failed to get a grip of this crisis, neglecting the social rented sector and dodging responsibility over rental reform. This Christmas is sadly no different.
“Only Labour will tackle the scourge of homelessness at its roots to get decent social homes built, ban no fault evictions for good and give renters the stability that they need.”
A Department for Levelling Up spokeswoman said: “Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. That’s why we are spending £2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including making £1 billion available so councils can give financial support for people to find a new home and move out of temporary accommodation.
“Temporary accommodation is an important way of making sure no family is without a roof over their head, but councils must ensure it is temporary and suitable for families, who have a right to appeal if it doesn’t meet their household’s needs. Through our Rough Sleeping Strategy, we will continue to work to end rough sleeping completely.”