At least 320,000 people in UK are ‘homeless’

At least 320,000 people are homeless in the United Kingdom, an increase of 13,000 from last year, according to housing charity Shelter, which said an average of 36 people become homeless every day.

Shelter, which campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing, defines people as homeless if they are living on the streets or staying with family or friends because they do not have a home.

It also says people are homeless if they are using hostels, night shelters, bed-and-breakfast accommodation, or if they are illegally squatting or living in homes that are in a very poor condition.

Shelter Chief Executive Polly Neate said the issue is having a “devastating impact” on people nationwide.

“Due to the perfect storm of spiraling rents, welfare cuts, and a total lack of social housing, record numbers of people are sleeping out on the streets or stuck in the cramped confines of a hostel room,” she said.

Shelter first tried to estimate the scale of homelessness in the UK in 2016. It said that an additional 25,000 people have become homeless since then, but said the number is difficult to calculate as many people are not coming to the attention of the authorities.

Its new figures follow a report from the United Nations which criticized the British government’s treatment of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable people.

The UN said the British government policies and cuts to social programs contributed to high levels of poverty and homelessness.

The British government said it is spending 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) on tackling the problem.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire said a new national law now requires local governments to do more to prevent homelessness, and noted the government is supporting those tackling the issue.

“No one should be left without a roof over their head, which is why we are determined to end rough sleeping and respond to the causes of homelessness,” the Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying.

“Our rough-sleeping strategy, support for councils and those working on the frontline are helping to get people off the street and into accommodation as we enter the colder winter months.”

The report said London’s 170,000 homeless people means the capital has Britain’s largest homeless population. Other towns and cities with a serious problem include Birmingham, Luton, Brighton, Slough, Dartford, Milton Keynes, Harlow, Watford, Epsom, Reading, Basildon, Peterborough and Coventry.

The report said that the vast majority of the 320,000 homeless people in the UK, around 295,000 are in temporary accommodation provided by local authorities.