Homeless: About 18,000 people without a home in south-east England

Data shows 660 people sleep rough on any given night across the South East

About 18,000 people in south-east England will spend Christmas without a home this year, data has revealed.

According to the charity Shelter, this figure includes 8,170 children across Kent, Sussex and Surrey.

Shelter's chief executive Polly Neate said: "Until the government takes this emergency seriously, our services will do everything they can to help people keep or find a safe home this winter."

A government spokesman said: "Everyone deserves a safe place to call home."

Shelter's data revealed that 660 people sleep rough on any given night across the region.

Hastings in East Sussex had the highest levels of homelessness with one in 79 people homeless - a total of 1,156. This was followed by Brighton and Hove with one in 88 (3,155 people) and Crawley with one in 111, (1,064 people) without a home.

'Chronic underinvestment'

Ms Neate said the housing emergency was "out of control".

"Homelessness is on nobody's Christmas list," she said. "Chronic underinvestment in social homes has left people unable to afford skyrocketing private rents and plunged record numbers into homelessness.

"It is appalling that the government has allowed thousands of families to be packed into damp and dirty B&Bs and hostel rooms, which are traumatising children and making people desperately ill."

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities says £2bn is to be spent to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, including £1bn so councils can offer financial support for people to find a new home and move out of temporary accommodation.

"Temporary accommodation is an important way of making sure no family is without a roof over their head, but councils must ensure it is temporary and suitable for families, who have a right to appeal if it doesn't meet their household's needs," a spokesman said.

"Through our rough sleeping strategy, we will continue to work to end rough sleeping completely."

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