December 2019
The Guardian and other media outlets report that an estimated 280,000 homeless people will be rough sleeping, or living in temporary housing and hostels in England on Christmas Day – about one in every 200 of the total population, according to the charity Shelter. The housing charity’s figure, which is likely to understate the true level of homelessness because it does not count people who are sofa-surfing or living in sheds or tents, is 3,600 higher than in 2018, and up 23,000 since 2017.