Shocking new figures reveal that 81 families in the North East are homeless and living in temporary accommodation.
This is a worrying 16% rise since the same time last year, according to analysis of government homelessness statistics by charity Shelter.
Many families will be crammed into just one room of a hostel or bed and breakfast, forced to share a kitchen and bathroom with strangers and with virtually no privacy.
Shelter is warning that the combination of relentless welfare cuts and a drastic shortage of genuinely affordable homes is leaving more and more families struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
And in the wake of George Osborne’s latest budget the charity is worried that things are set to get worse.
Responding to the figures, Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said: “These figures are yet another reminder of the impact welfare cuts and the drought of genuinely affordable homes is having on families and children in the North East.
“Every day at Shelter we see the real families behind these figures, who’ve gone through the trauma of losing their home and are then left to linger in cramped and unfit rooms, as overburdened councils struggle to find them anywhere to live that’s safe, secure and affordable.
“Last Wednesday’s Budget did nothing to address this country’s sky high housing costs, whilst slicing away at the help struggling families depend on to stay in their homes.
“If George Osborne really wants to bring down the benefit bill his first priority should be to invest in building safe, secure and genuinely affordable homes.”