More households in the Cumberland Council area applied for homelessness support last year.
New figures released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government come a few weeks after the central government announced an additional £233million would be spent in 2025-26 to tackle homelessness, taking total spending to £1billion.
The number of households in England assessed for homelessness support rose by 10 per cent over the last year, reaching nearly 91,000 in the three months to June.
Of those, 83,240 were assessed as requiring 'a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness', meaning housing authorities must help prevent them from becoming homeless or support them in securing accommodation if they are valready homeless.
In Cumberland, 502 households had an initial homelessness assessment from April to June.
This was up from 381 in the same period in 2023 and led to 485 households requiring support.
Balbir Kaur Chatrik, director of policy at Centrepoint, a charity that provides accommodation and support to homeless people aged 16–25, said: "It is simply appalling that tens of thousands of households are facing homelessness."
She urged the Government to build 90,000 social homes annually, but warned it is not a quick fix’.
She added a ‘cross-departmental strategy’ is required to tackle rising homelessness.
Polly Neate, chief executive of homeless charity Shelter, said: "Devastatingly we’re seeing the housing emergency continue to escalate, with more and more people showing up to their council facing homelessness, desperate for help."
She said soaring rents, increasing evictions, and the lack of affordable social homes are pushing people into homelessness, with councils struggling to meet the rising demand and people placed in insalubrious and unsuitable accommodation.
She added: "The only way to end homelessness for good is for the government to build 90,000 genuinely affordable social homes a year for 10 years."
Ms Chatrik also highlighted the rising number of people being placed in temporary accommodation when approaching their local authority for support, adding the associated costs "have not been sustainable for years".
In England, 123,100 households were living in temporary accommodation as of June, including 22 in Cumberland.
This was up from 105,750 the year before.
Meanwhile, nearly 159,400 children faced homelessness in temporary accommodation nationally up 15 per cent from the year before, and the highest figure since records began in 2004.
Rushanara Ali, minister for homelessness, said: "It is a scandal that so many children are waking up in temporary accommodation.
READ NEXT: Road to remain partially closed until late January 2025
"We have inherited the consequences of years of failure to grip the housing crisis with families facing the brutal uncertainty and trauma of homelessness.
"We are taking decisive action to get the homes we need built and our dedicated inter-ministerial group, led by the deputy prime minister, is working at pace across government to get us back on track to end homelessness for good.
"We will deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and tackle one of the biggest drivers of homelessness by ending no-fault evictions."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here