The number of people sleeping rough in England has surged by a third over the past year, new Government figures show.
Statistics released by the communities department show the number of rough sleepers up by 30 per cent over 2015, and a 102 per cent increase since 2010, when David Cameron first came to power.
3,569 people were estimated by councils to be sleeping rough on any one night last year, with the biggest increases in the south, east, and midlands.
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The sharp rise in people sleeping on the street coincides with the Government’s ending of funding for its “No Second Night Out” programme to prevent rough sleeping.
Charities say the lapsed scheme, introduced in 2012 but ended in March last year, helped over 64,000 people before its £20 million funding pot ran out.
Figures reported in January also show the rise in people without anywhere to live has gone hand-in-hand with an increased reliance on insecure privately rented homes.
The charity Shelter warned then that homelessness, distinct from rough sleeping, was on the rise because of increasing numbers of people being forced to leave their homes when a landlord decided to increase rent or stop renting a property.
A study by that charity found that a quarter of tenants have in the past been kicked out of their own home by their landlord through no fault of their own – a so-called “no fault” eviction.
Under the wildly deregulated private renting rules introduced in the 1980s, landlords do not have to give a reason to throw a tenant out of their home.
The Government says it is committed to a larger private rented housing sector.
Rick Henderson, chief executive of Homeless Link, an umbrella body representing homeless services, said the situation could have been even worse without the efforts of homeless charities.
