Britain could end homelessness within a decade with a £10bn plan, which includes building at least 100,000 social homes each year for 15 years, according to a report by leading charity.

The paper, from the charity Crisis and backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, sets out precise government policies that it believes are needed to “end homelessness for good”.

The measures also include forcing prisons and hospitals by law to prevent people in their care from becoming homeless when they leave.

If the measures were adopted in full, everyone would have a stable home within 10 years, the report’s authors claim.

The plan, Everybody In: How to End Homelessness in Great Britain, is also endorsed by Dame Louise Casey, the former national homelessness “tsar”. It was drawn up with the help of the Chartered Institute of Housing, Heriot-Watt University, the National Housing Federation and accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), as well as frontline workers and people who have been homeless.

Under the proposals:

100,500 social homes would be built each year for the next 15 years to meet the needs of both homeless people and those on low incomes

A national rollout of Housing First – a project that aims to find people homes and then offer them specialised long-term support – would benefit more than 18,000 people

Private renters would be given more rights and longer tenancies

Housing benefits would be raised to meet the cost of private renting

Hospitals, prisons, the care system and other parts of the state would be legally required to help prevent people leaving their care from becoming homeless

Job centres would have homelessness specialists

PwC has estimated the leading policies would cost £9.9bn over the next decade and deliver benefits worth £26.4bn, the report says. The estimate covers “the costs and benefits of solutions specifically related to homelessness, but not wider reforms that target broader low-income groups such as house-building and certain welfare reforms”.

Crisis believes there are 236,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales living on the streets, in cars or tents, in shelters or in “unsuitable” temporary accommodation. An average of three homeless people die every week on the streets, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found.

The causes of homelessness Show all 7 1 /7 The causes of homelessness The causes of homelessness Family Breakdown Relationship breakdown, usually between young people and their parents or step-parents, is a major cause of youth homelessness. Around six in ten young people who come to Centrepoint say they had to leave home because of arguments, relationship breakdown or being told to leave. Many have experienced long-term problems at home, often involving violence, leaving them without the family support networks that most of us take for granted The causes of homelessness Complex needs Young people who come to Centrepoint face a range of different and complex problems. More than a third have a mental health issue, such as depression and anxiety, another third need to tackle issues with substance misuse. A similar proportion also need to improve their physical health. These problems often overlap, making it more difficult for young people to access help and increasing the chances of them becoming homeless Getty/iStock The causes of homelessness Deprivation Young people's chances of having to leave home are higher in areas of high deprivation and poor prospects for employment and education. Many of those who experience long spells of poverty can get into problem debt, which makes it harder for them to access housing Getty Images/iStockphoto The causes of homelessness Gang Crime Homeless young people are often affected by gang-related problems. In some cases, it becomes too dangerous to stay in their local area meaning they can end up homeless. One in six young people at Centrepoint have been involved in or affected by gang crime Getty Images/iStockphoto The causes of homelessness Exclusion From School Not being in education can make it much more difficult for young people to access help with problems at home or health problems. Missing out on formal education can also make it more difficult for them to move into work Getty Images/iStockphoto The causes of homelessness Leaving Care Almost a quarter of young people at Centrepoint have been in care. They often have little choice but to deal with the challenges and responsibilities of living independently at a young age. Traumas faced in their early lives make care leavers some of the most vulnerable young people in our communities, with higher chances of poor outcomes in education, employment and housing. Their additional needs mean they require a higher level of support to maintain their accommodation Getty Images/iStockphoto The causes of homelessness Refugees Around 13 per cent of young people at Centrepoint are refugees or have leave to remain, meaning it isn't safe to return home. This includes young people who come to the UK as unaccompanied minors, fleeing violence or persecution in their own country. After being granted asylum, young people sometimes find themselves with nowhere to go and can end up homeless Getty Images/iStockphoto

Jeremy Smith, an expert in international urban development and co-director of the Prime Economics think tank, said the plan was highly ambitious and would require a major policy adjustment by the government.

“The issue is the shift in policy to creating large scale social housing,” he said. “There have been arguments that simply providing more housing alone isn’t necessarily the principal issue in making it more affordable.

“Do you go back to local authorities as part of this, for example? There’s no particular reason why it couldn’t be done but you’d have to shift the government paradigm.

“If you’re dealing with homelessness you have to have high ambitions and if you achieve part of it, it’s a success.”

The figure of £10bn was around 0.5 per cent of GDP and the sum of borrowing spread over years would be very little, he said.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: ”We are investing more than £1.2bn to tackle all forms of homelessness and just last week we announced £30m for councils to help boost the immediate support available to people living on the streets.