This is an 8% rise from last year and means that more than the population of Nottingham is now homeless in England.   

​The statistics also show that:

• The main reason that households were forced to seek homelessness assistance from their local council was due to friends and family being unable to accommodate them (87,290). This highlights the pressures still facing people as high living costs and unaffordable rents force more and more people to sofa surf.
• The ending of a private tenancy continues to be one of the leading causes of homelessness with 79,500 seeking help from their council because their assured short hold tenancy has come to an end. This includes 26,150 households having been served a s21 ‘no fault eviction’ demonstrating the urgent need for the Renters Rights Bill to progress through parliament quickly.
• The number of households forced to live in temporary accommodation remains at record levels with 117,450 households being placed in this form of accommodation by their council, a 12.3% rise on last year.
• As of 31 March 2024, a fifth of all households with children in temporary accommodation (22.5%) had been there for 5 years or more.
• There are now 151,630 children living in temporary accommodation, which is enough to fill 5,700 classrooms.

​Homelessness charity Crisis is calling on the new government to commit to building 90,000 social homes every year so it can start to deliver on its aspirations to tackle homelessness and end the damage it does to people’s lives.

Matt Downie, chief executive at Crisis, said: “The need to tackle homelessness and start building the social homes we need has never been more urgent.

“To see proof that we have tens of thousands of families spending years of their lives trapped in unsuitable temporary accommodation like mouldy B&Bs, which are damaging their children’s health and robbing them of life experiences like having friends over to play, is heartbreaking. Unless we take a different approach, this will become the reality for generations to come.

“We cannot delay any longer. In the short term we need to see local councils given adequate funding at the upcoming budget so that they can properly support people who have nowhere to go. But to truly build a stable future for this country, the new government must commit to delivering 90,000 social homes every year and provide the critical investment needed to make this happen. Only then can people who have lost their home begin to rebuild their lives and leave homelessness behind for good. They cannot wait any longer.”

Darren Baxter, principal policy advisor at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Today’s statistics show that last year more families experienced the trauma of homelessness, many as their private rented tenancies came to an end. Moving from fixed-term tenancies to periodic tenancies will end the insecurity that’s currently baked into the system. But, to truly give private renters the security they need the Renters’ Rights Bill must make sure that no-fault evictions can’t happen by the back door. 

“Too many homes in the private rented sector also aren’t affordable for people on the lowest incomes. Without a stable, secure home they can afford, families can’t put down roots and get on in life. To make sure these families aren’t left with nowhere to go, the government needs to make sure the support private renters on low incomes receive to help pay their rent actually reflects what rents cost. They must make sure Local Housing Allowance is aligned with rents each year, ending the current cycle of freezing and unfreezing this vital support.”

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to publish a cross-Whitehall plan to end all forms of homelessness within this Parliament. The party said that the plans should include more support for councils to tackle the shocking rise in the number of people in temporary accommodation.

The party’s Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson, Vikki Slade MP, said: “It is heartbreaking to think that so many families and children will be on the streets or without a place to call home this winter.

“For years, the previous Conservative government chose to ignore the thousands that are rough sleeping and broke their promise to ban no fault evictions.

“The new government must address this awful situation as a matter of urgency and that starts by publishing a cross-Whitehall plan to end all forms of homelessness within this Parliament.

“This strategy must include more support for councils to tackle the shocking rise in families using temporary accommodation. No longer should we see people forced to sleep rough and unable to access the support they need.”