Doncaster 'worst in Yorkshire' for homelessness
There's been a rise in our region according to Shelter
New stats suggest more people are homeless in Doncaster than anywhere else in Yorkshire, with two and a half thousand affected across our region.
The research from charity Shelter shows there's been a rise in the number of people without a home here.
It suggests there are more than 500 affected in Doncaster including 27 rough sleepers.
Tony Stacey from South Yorkshire Housing Association says the problem's getting worse:
"You can see in the streets every time you go down into the city centre the number seems to be growing.
"But homelessness is not just about people who are sleeping rough - the very visible end of homelessness - it's also the kind of pressure that's building up because people can't afford to move into the rented sector.
"The Conservative Party manifesto was pretty silent about this, they actually suggested that the number of homes we build as a country should come down.
"Last year we built 240,00 homes and the government's target for next year is only 200,000 homes. I'd say the government has got that wrong. Everybody recognises there's a housing crisis in this country."
Shelter says urgent action's needed to address the "dire lack of social homes at the crux of this emergency, before the situation is likely to get worse''
Steve Waddington's from St Leger Homes who provide council homes in Doncaster - he says the homeless partnership in the town doesn't recognise some of Shelter's figures.
He's told us there's a lot of good work going on there:
"It is a challenge but I think in Doncaster we're tackling that challenge head on.
"We do a lot of work in partnership to actually work with those individuals who find themselves to be rough sleeping or at risk of rough sleeping and actually to put individual support plans around those individuals and we've been very successful."
St Leger Homes has a waiting list of 9,000 - Steve says there just aren't enough homes to go around:
"You look at some of the difficulties within the private renting sector - the rent that is being charged and what you get is a downward spiral of people moving into debt, people losing their homes because they're not able to financially maintain them. We would definitely say there needs to be more social rented properties."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was supporting councils to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation.
He added: "(We're) giving #1.2 billion to tackle all types of homelessness.
"Everyone should have somewhere safe to live, and councils have a duty to provide accommodation to those who need it, including families with children.''