A NEW record high of more than 172,000 children are living in temporary accommodation in England, almost enough to fill Wembley Stadium twice over, new government figures revealed today.

Official data shows numbers have risen in each quarter since 2021, reaching 132,410 households in temporary accommodation as of the end of June.

This is up 1.2 per cent from the previous three-month period and 7.6 per cent from the same time last year.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said 84,240 of those households included children.

Separate government data showed 8,732 people were sleeping rough in England in June, up from 8,309 a year earlier.

Campaigners are urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to unfreeze housing benefit in next month’s Budget and to publish the government’s long-delayed homelessness strategy.

Crisis chief executive Matt Downie said: “Tragically, we have now become totally accustomed to seeing record levels of children growing up in temporary accommodation. 

“So we have to ask, as living costs increase and the supply of social homes recedes, when this will end?”

He said raising housing benefit “would enable more people and families to stay in their homes” and called for “a new generation of social homes” to help families “escape poverty and see a brighter future.”

Shelter campaigns and policy director Mairi MacRae said: “It’s utterly shameful that the number of children homeless could now fill a city the size of Oxford.”

She called for local housing allowance to cover at least the bottom third of rents and for 90,000 social rent homes a year to be built for the next decade “to end homelessness for good.”

JustFair branded the figures “a national disgrace,” while housing provider Riverside described them as a “humanitarian crisis.”

Parliamentary briefing data shows emergency accommodation is often cramped and unsafe, with several family members sharing one room and lacking basic cooking or laundry facilities. 

Such conditions have been linked to at least 74 child deaths over the past five years.

Centrepoint said that the official statistics “under-report the scale of demand,” with a third of young people seeking help from councils not receiving legally required assessments. 

Policy lead Dr Lisa Doyle said: “Experiencing homelessness and housing instability at such a young age can have devastating effects on a child’s mental health and their ability to live independently in the future. 

“Things need to change.”

She urged the government to publish its homelessness strategy and prioritise prevention “to ensure young people never have to experience homelessness in the first place.”

Renter groups warn that soaring costs are trapping families in temporary accommodation, as Local Housing Allowance no longer covers private rents. 

ONS data shows rents have risen by 8.5 per cent since April 2024, while councils are spending tens of millions in incentive payments to landlords. 

London councils have warned that local authorities are facing bankruptcy due to spiralling costs.

Meanwhile, the government’s Renters’ Rights Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent within the next two weeks. 

The flagship legislation has been welcomed by housing groups but criticised for failing to tackle affordability.

Renters’ Reform Coalition director Tom Darling said: “The fact that one in five homeless families have been trapped in temporary accommodation for five years or more is a moral stain on society. 

“Temporary accommodation barely merits the term ‘accommodation.’ Cramped, unhealthy and lacking facilities — it’s totally unsuitable for families with children, particularly for long periods of time.”

He said rent caps were needed “to stop rents outpacing wages or inflation” and called for a National Affordable Renting Commission to make renting “genuinely affordable.”

Homelessness minister Alison McGovern said the statistics are a “harsh reminder that too many have been let down by the system meant to protect them.”

She said the government is investing £1 billion to prevent homelessness and build 1.5 million homes, among other measures.