UK Charities have warned that official figures showing a 14% rise in people classed as homeless are just the "tip of the iceberg", because they fail to capture huge numbers who have been displaced from their home and are living with friends, in hostels or on the streets.
The latest homelessness figures also indicated local authorities are housing homeless families in bed-and-breakfast hotels because of a chronic shortage of suitable private temporary accommodation, a discredited practice that was almost eradicated by the Labour government.
The latest government figures, published on Thursday, showed 48,510 applications for homelessness assistance were approved by councils in England in 2011, up from 42,390 in the previous year, the biggest increase for nine years.