Data shows 274,000 people in England are homeless

New research published by Shelter shows that more than 274,000 people are homeless in England right now, including 126,000 children.

The analysis of official rough-sleeping and temporary accommodation figures shows that one in every 206 people in England are currently without a home. Of these, 2,700 people are sleeping rough on any given night, nearly 15,000 single people in direct access hostels and nearly 250,000 people are living in temporary accommodation – most of whom are families.

Covid protections such as the ‘Everyone In’ scheme, the eviction ban, and the boost to Universal Credit played a vital role in keeping people in their homes and suppressing homelessness during the pandemic. But now Shelter is warning with these protections gone, living costs soaring and another uncertain winter ahead, there is a risk of the flood gates reopening and thousands more people losing their homes.

The charity is calling on the public to support its frontline workers who have been inundated with calls to its emergency helpline from people facing homelessness this winter. The charity says it’s hearing from people who are facing a night on the streets in freezing conditions after being turned away from emergency accommodation. As well as thousands of families in dire straits living in grotty hostel rooms where parents and siblings are forced to share beds, and there are only communal facilities.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “We predicted the pandemic would trigger a rising tide of evictions and our services are starting to see the reality of this now. We’re flooded with calls from families and people of all ages who are homeless or on the verge of losing their home.”