Dozens of people homeless in Chesterfield on any given night

Shelter, a leading homelessness charity, has used government statistics, Freedom of Information requests and data from the membership charity Homeless Link to work out how many people are without a home in England.

It estimates 29 people were homeless in Chesterfield on any given night in 2022 – including four children. This was equivalent to one in every 3,572 people in the area, the charity said.

Around 24 homeless people in Chesterfield were in temporary accommodation, while five were estimated to be sleeping rough. These figures do not include the various forms of hidden or unofficial homelessness, such as sofa surfing or overcrowded homes.

Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said they were expecting a rise in homelessness in 2023. “A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today,” she said.

“Our frontline advisers are working tirelessly to help people who are desperate to escape homelessness. With private rents and living costs continuing to soar, thousands of people are not just facing a winter of worry, they are at risk of losing the roof over their head,” she added.

The estimates suggest around 2,400 people were sleeping rough across England, with a further 15,000 people in hostels or supported accommodation.

Nearly 250,000 people – mainly families – were living in temporary accommodation. The overall figure is down slightly from the previous year – 274,000 were estimated to be homeless on any given night in 2021.

Despite a slight drop in the number of people in temporary accommodation compared to the year before, the use of temporary accommodation has risen by an “alarming” 74%.

A Government spokeswoman said it had given £366 million to local authorities this year to help prevent evictions and provide temporary housing.

“Over half a million households have been prevented from becoming homeless since 2018 through the Homelessness Reduction Act," they added.

“We are also providing significant support to help people through these tough times by holding down energy bills and delivering up to £1,350 in direct cash payments to millions of vulnerable households.”