While most people will spend Christmas among their family members and friends, almost a thousand people around Suffolk will not have a home to celebrate this special time of the year.

New research done by Shelter shows that at least 19,900 people in the East of England will spend Christmas without a home, including more than 9,500 children. This is a stark increase of 16% in one year. 

The data includes 117 homeless people in Babergh district, 288 in East Suffolk, 178 in West Suffolk, 81 in Mid Suffolk, and 119 in Ipswich. 

The report suggests that about 800 Suffolk people face homelessness this winter. 

Shelter’s comprehensive analysis of official homelessness figures and responses to Freedom of Information requests revealed homelessness in the region has risen rapidly in just 12 months: 285 people are sleeping rough on any given night (19% increase) and 19,190 are living in temporary accommodation (15% increase) - most of whom are children.   

The research revealed places across the East of England where homelessness is most acute. Luton has the highest number of people without a home, with 3,500 homeless people, followed by Basildon, where 1,790 people are homeless, and Bedford, with 1,380 people. 

Recently, a £220,000 Suffolk modular home project that aims to help those coming from a background of homelessness has been officially opened. 

Hopestead Place, on Felixstowe Road in Ipswich, can accommodate nine homeless people. 

In November, Ipswich was put among the worst-hit councils in the UK over rising homelessness figures. 

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Homelessness is on nobody’s Christmas list, but nearly 20,000 people in the East of England will spend this time of year in a tiny hostel room or freezing in a doorway.  

“The housing emergency is out of control. Chronic underinvestment in social homes has left people unable to afford skyrocketing private rents and plunged record numbers into homelessness.  

“It is appalling that the government has allowed thousands of families to be packed into damp and dirty B&B’s and hostel rooms, which are traumatising children and making people desperately ill.”   

You can support Shelter’s urgent appeal here.