Official statistics released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 8 August showed that as of March, there were 151,630 children living in hostels or bed and breakfasts.

“We are facing the worst housing crisis in living memory and homelessness at record levels. This is nothing short of a national scandal,” Rayner said in a statement. “Urgent action is needed to fix this.”

Dave Robinson, assistant chief executive at housing provider Riverside, told the BBC that there are now more homeless children in the UK than the combined populations of places like Ipswich (151,565), Blackpool (149,070) and York (141,685).

According to government figures, the number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation has increased significantly since 2004 and this figure has increased by 15% since March 2023.

Bed and breakfasts are only meant to house families in emergencies, for a maximum of six weeks, but “thousands” of households with children have been staying there for much longer. They are spending “months if not years in temporary accommodation” and are “unable to get by”, Polly Neate, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, told the BBC.

Hannah Dalton, housing spokeswoman for the County Council Network, said: “The use of temporary accommodation is a failure of national policy, forcing councils to expensively deal with the consequences of homelessness rather than preventing it in the first place.

Ms Rayner is one of the ministers in new Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government and her Housing Department was reorganised last month from the Department for Wellbeing, Housing and Communities.

The Department for Housing is now working with local leaders “to develop a long-term strategy to end homelessness once and for all”, Ms Rayner said. As part of this, she has promised a “massive boost to affordable social housing” and will spend millions of pounds to provide homes for families most at risk.