The number of people at risk of homelessness has hit a record high, official statistics have revealed.
In March, 104,510 households were in temporary accommodation, up 10.0% from the same time last year.
It is the highest number since the figures were first collected in 1998.
According to the stats released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, this includes 131,370 children.
The most common reason why local authorities had to intervene to prevent a household becoming homeless was them losing their tenancy on a rented home.
Polly Neate, the chief executive of the charity Shelter, said the figures showed “the time for empty words on building social homes and overdue promises on ending no fault evictions has long past”.
“No-fault evictions are fuelling homelessness and throwing thousands of families’ lives into turmoil,” she said.
“We need decisive action, not lip service, before this crisis gets even worse.”
Campaigners have urged the government to ban no fault evictions via the Renters Reform Bill as soon as possible.
The long-delayed legislation was first proposed by then-prime minister Theresa May in April 2019.
Rishi Sunak yesterday insisted he would meet a manifesto commitment to build one million homes over this parliament, even though he abandoned strict top-down targets in the face of opposition from Tory MPs.
Michael Gove, the housing secretary, told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme this morning planning laws would instead be relaxed to build more homes in city centres to create “buzzy urban areas”.