227,000 families and individuals across Britain are experiencing the worst forms of homelessness, according to research from homelessness charity Crisis.

This includes people sleeping on the streets, living in insecure accommodation like B&Bs, or sleeping in cars and sheds.

Most of these households are in England, with 0.86% of all households in England experiencing homelessness on any given night, compared with 0.69% in Wales and 0.57% in Scotland.

Nearly 25,000 families and individuals are living in unsuitable temporary accommodation like B&Bs for extended periods of time, including 22,600 households across England alone.

Looking ahead, around 350,000 households in Britain are predicted to experience homelessness by 2041, of which over 320,000 will be in England.

David Renard, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “These figures should be a wake-up call to the need for a cross-departmental government plan to tackle homelessness with long-term investment in prevention and services to support economically vulnerable people and households to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.

“Looking ahead we need to get to grips with addressing the severe housing shortage the nation faces.

“By giving councils the powers and resources to build 100,000 social homes for rent a year, we can significantly reduce housing waiting lists and provide households with a secure and suitable home.

“We should also look at how tenants can access a more secure and affordable private rented sector, to help keep people in their homes.”