Last year saw a rise in the number of children living in temporary accommodation in the Braintree district, according to new figures.

There were 81 children living in temporary accommodation in Braintree at the end of 2023.

These include short-term private rental properties, as well as hostels and bed and breakfasts.

This was a rise on the same point a year earlier when there were 68 children in temporary accommodation.

The new figures come from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and show a record number of homeless children living in short-term accommodation across England.

In total, 50 households were living in temporary accommodation in the Braintree district, 33 of them with dependent children.

This was the similar to the year before when 47 households were living in temporary accommodation.

Across England there were 145,800 children in temporary accommodation at the end of 2023, up by a fifth on when records began 20 years ago, and a 15 per cent rise from the year before, when there were 126,340.

Housing charity Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: "The Government cannot stand idly by while a generation of children have their lives blighted by homelessness.

"Decades of failure to build enough genuinely affordable social homes has left families struggling to cobble together extortionate sums every month to keep a roof over their heads."

She said political parties must commit to "ending the housing emergency", and urged them all to pledge to build 90,000 social homes a year for 10 years.

A government spokesman said councils are being supported with £1.2billion to give help to those who need it, and local housing allowance has been boosted to help towards rental costs.

They added: "Temporary accommodation is a vital safety net to make sure families are not left without a roof over their heads, but councils must make sure it is suitable for families who have a right to appeal if it’s not."