SOME 382,618 people in England — the equivalent of one in 153 — will be homeless this Christmas, new figures show.

Research by housing charity Shelter, using government data and freedom of information requests, found that the number of people recorded homeless has soared by 8 per cent in one year.

Among them, 350,480 are stuck in temporary accommodation, most of whom are families with children. 

Another 4,667 people are sleeping rough on any given night — a sharp 20 per cent increase in one year.

An estimated 16,294 additional single people are in hostels or other homeless accommodation and at least 4,031 people are in accommodation provided by social services.

More than half of the people who are homeless in England live in London. Newham had the highest rate, where a shocking one in 18 are homeless. 

Shelter warns that the soaring numbers are rooted in a dire shortage of social homes, unaffordable private rents and the freeze on housing benefit, which was extended to at least 2027 in the Budget. 

The charity’s CEO, Sarah Elliott, said: “Every day at Shelter we hear from parents who are terrified of waiting out another winter in appalling temporary accommodation. 

“Cut off from family and friends in a bleak emergency B&B that’s miles away, they watch as their children’s breath hangs in the air and mould climbs the walls.

“We urge the government to help the families who are homeless right now by ending the freeze on housing benefit.

“This would immediately lift thousands of children out of temporary accommodation and into a home.”

On Thursday, the government unveiled a “national plan to end homelessness,” which it says has been backed by £3.5 billion of investment.

The plan pledges a “boost to the supply of good-quality temporary homes,” to halve the number of long-term rough sleepers by the end of this parliament, and an end the unlawful use of B&Bs beyond the six-week limit.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “Through our new strategy we can build a future where homelessness is rare, brief, and not repeated.”