MORE than 300,000 people are now on record as homeless, more than the entire population of Newcastle, according to Shelter.

But the figure, totalling 307,000, is likely to be much higher, the housing charity says, as many will not have been recorded by the authorities, with some being legally homeless but “sofa surfing” with friends or family.

Shelter took account of official rough-sleeping, temporary accommodation and social-services numbers to provide its assessment of homeless numbers in its report published today. The charity says that the total has shot up by 13,000 in a year.