A child in Britain becomes homeless every eight minutes with figures reaching a 13-year high, according to a new report.

Shelter's "Generation Homeless" report found that 183 children lose their homes every day - marking the first time it has been able to uncover the exact rate.

At least 135,000 children will be living in temporary accommodation on Christmas Day, the study found.

It also highlighted the impact of temporary accommodation such as emergency B&Bs and hostels, where 5,683 homeless families with children currently live.

The report found one in 107 children in Great Britain were homeless and being housed in temporary accommodation.


Shelter found these facilities were often sub-standard and lacked privacy and security for families.

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The report highlighted the story of Will, whose family was made homeless after a Section 21 "no-fault" eviction and now lives in a single room in a bed and breakfast in Ilford, east London.

"Life in the B&B is horrible, it's worse than being in a real-life horror film," the 10-year-old said.

"There's no room to do anything, even if I'm reading my book, as I'm still going to get annoyed by someone. I've been told off by someone for running in the small corridor.

"You can't do much, you can't play much. I don't get to play that often.

"Sometimes me and my little brother Harry, we fight for the one chair, because we both want to sit at the table, and sometimes he wins and sometimes I win.

"I find it really hard to do my homework as I get distracted by my little brother and I don't have another room to work in peace."

The charity found the number of children who were homeless and living in temporary accommodation had risen by 51% in Britain in the last five years.

In England, there are an additional 4,470 families with children who are homeless but have sourced their own temporary accommodation. These families are not included in Shelter's figures, but are also officially without a home.

"The fact 183 children become homeless every day is a scandalous figure and sharp reminder that political promises about tackling homelessness must be turned into real action," said Shelter chief executive Polly Neate.