Figures released by Shelter on Tuesday revealed 183 children lose their homes every day in Britain and predicted at least 135,000 will be living in temporary accommodation such as emergency B-and-Bs and hostels on Christmas Day.
Housing Justice supports churches, agencies and individuals to engage with homelessness and housing issues.
Director Jacob Quagliozzi, told Premier inadequate housing is largely to blame: “Structural problems in the UK housing market and a lack of provision of truly affordable and social housing is a significant contributing factor to these figures.
A person who has experienced homelessness as a child is much more likely to become a rough sleeper in later life, according to Quagliozzi. He says government intervention is needed to prevent the problem from escalating.
“There is a proven identifiable link between a lack of social housing, and particularly the level of the number of families who find themselves homeless, and unless we dramatically increase the number of social homes available, we will continue to see numbers like this.”
Quagliozzi acknowledged that all political parties have made commitments to address homelessness and has encouraged Christians to consider the issue when going to the polls next week.
He said: “In a run up to an election, when our doors are being knocked and when we’re getting phone calls from candidates are we asking them what their policies are on homelessness and housing.”
Housing Justice works with over 145 night shelters and hundreds of churches across England and Wales throughout the winter period to help those in need.
