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Theresa May has used a brazenly misleading statistic to suggest homelessness fell under the Tories.

She made the claim as Jeremy Corbyn demanded she "get out of the pockets" of rogue landlords and branded her housing record an "absolute disgrace".

Clashing with the Labour leader at Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May told him: "Statutory homelessness peaked under the Labour government and is down by over 50% since then."

And she declared to MPs: "It's this government that is delivering for people on housing. Labour failed to deliver over 13 years."

But her statement on "statutory homelessness" appears to be misleading on two fronts.

Firstly, statutory homelessness did peak under Labour, but its fall was under Labour too - before the Tories took power.

Despite Mrs May's claim, the number of households accepted as statutorily homelessness has actually risen - from 10,100 in April-June 2010 to 14,400 in the same period of 2017.

It is down 5% in the last year but up overall since David Cameron took power, official figures show.

Secondly, "statutory homelessness" only covers people found to be both unintentionally homeless and in priority need.

It is not the full picture of homelessness, and other official statistics are a lot less rosy for the Tory government.

There were 78,180 households in temporary accommodation on 30 June 2017 - up an eye-watering 63% since the low of 48,010 on 31 December 2010.

On top of all that, a snapshot measure by the government shows England had 4,134 rough sleepers in autumn 2016 - more than double the 1,768 in 2010 and up every single year.

(Image: Jack Taylor)

Mrs May used the figure despite a watchdog rapping her government for using it out of context just a few months ago.

The UK Statistics Authority said it was "disappointing" that the government claimed homelessness had halved since 2003, without making clear what measure was being used.

Mr Corbyn and Mrs May traded several figures today in a bitter spat across the House of Commons despatch boxes.

Labour's leader said: "When it comes to housing, this Government has been an absolute disgrace.

"After seven years, more people are living on the streets, more families in temporary accommodation, more families in homes not fit for human habitation and fewer people owning their own home.

"When is this Government going to get out of the pockets of property speculators and rogue landlords and get on the side of tenants and people without a home of their own this Christmas?"

But Mrs May repeated criticism of Labour's housing record, adding: "More affordable homes have been delivered in the last seven years than in the previous seven years under a Labour government."

She also defended the Government's house-building numbers, adding: "It's the Conservatives that are doing what is necessary. Labour would produce failure for this country once again."

Labour Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey said: "This is a shameful attempt by Theresa May to mislead the public and hide the Conservatives’ appalling record on homelessness.

“The facts are clear - homelessness fell at an unprecedented rate under Labour but has risen under the Conservatives. Only a Labour government will deal with the crisis of rapidly rising homelessness in towns and cities across the country.”