Hundreds of homeless people will die over the winter, the Salvation Army warned on Sunday as it opens its night shelters across the country.

The charity is calling for urgent investment in support services to prevent people falling into what it calls “the rough sleeping trap” following years of rising demand for places in its shelters.

“We will always provide shelter for those forced to sleep rough, especially during winter, but for many a temporary safe space and a hot meal are not enough to save them,” said Mitch Menagh, the charity’s director of homelessness services.

“Those people we help invariably have complex, multiple needs including relationship breakdown, childhood trauma, alcohol dependency and drug abuse. Homeless people die young and that won’t stop until there is investment in support to help end the revolving door of homelessness.”

Official figures show that at least 726 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2018 – a 22% increase on the previous year and the largest rise since records began in 2013.

Last Thursday councils conducted the annual rough sleeping count, which provides a snapshot of the number of people on the streets on a specific night.

John Clifton, a Salvation Army captain, who has helped run its shelter in Ilford, in the London borough of Redbridge, since 2011, said he had seen a large rise in the number of people needing its help. “In 2011, the count revealed that there were 18 homeless people in Redbridge. In 2017, it was 65 people which put us 11th in the country. We would have been in the top 10 except that in the months before the count we had four people die.”

We see a high proportion of people who can’t access state benefits and it makes it difficult for them to move on John Clifton, Salvation Army captain

In the winter of 2016-17, the most recent figures available for a specific period, 222 homeless people died and there are concerns a similar number may be at risk this winter as temperatures begin to drop.

“We know that while people won’t necessarily be dying of hypothermia, any extreme weather conditions exacerbate existing health problems and makes those underlying problems like mental health or addiction more difficult to cope with,” Clifton said.

Falling temperatures mean charities and local authorities will open emergency night shelters, but councils’ different criteria for opening the shelters leads to a postcode lottery.

The Salvation Army, which has more than 80 shelters in the UK and Ireland, cited a typical example of one man it helped. “Daniel”, 42, had been homeless for six months after losing his job following a workplace injury. He suffered a stroke and repeated, worsening seizures, but received no compensation from his employers. He then resorted to alcohol before dying from an overdose.

Clifton said that alongside British residents, a small number of whom were women, the Ilford shelter helped eastern European and Punjabi men. “We see a high proportion of people who can’t access state benefits and it makes it difficult for them to move on. About half of the people sleeping on the streets in London have no recourse to public funds.”

Housebuilding data shows dearth of homes for affordable renting Read more

The Salvation Army said that in addition to more supported housing, and mental health and addiction treatment, the government needed to ensure local authorities were properly funded to provide support for homelessness.

It also called for local housing allowance to be increased so people on benefits and low incomes could afford to rent in the private sector.