A leading charity has blamed “short-sighted welfare cuts and a severe housing shortage” for soaring levels of homelessness in England, after new official figures revealed that the number of homeless households has risen by 33 percent in the last five years.
Official government statistics show the number of families accepted as homeless by councils has increased by 42 percent over the last five years, while the total number of homeless households increased by 33 percent to 56,500 over the same period.