At least 11,550 people were homeless in Greater Manchester on any given night last year, according to the charity Shelter.
Most of those were living in temporary accommodation and almost half, 5,563, were children, while 84 were sleeping rough.
As the cost of living crisis bites, experts say they are bracing for a spike in homelessness this year.
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In Manchester - where the problem is most acute - the town hall confirmed its staff opened the highest number of homeless applications in the country last year, at 6,525.
Meanwhile, Shelter says there were an estimated 7,450 homeless people in the city - the second highest of anywhere in the country outside of London. Around one in 74 people in the city are thought to be living in temporary accommodation, or on the streets.
People were least likely to be homeless in Stockport, where one in 1,198 people did not have a home.
“A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today,” Shelter chief executive Polly Neate says.
“Our frontline advisers are working tirelessly to help people who are desperate to escape homelessness - from the parents doing all they can to provide some shred of a normal family life while stuck in an emergency B&B, to the person terrified of another night sleeping rough.
“With private rents and living costs continuing to soar, thousands of people are not just facing a winter of worry, they are at risk of losing the roof over their head.”
Nationally, Shelter’s research shows that at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless in England, including 123,000 children. That equates to a national rate of one in 208 people.
London had the highest rate - with around one in 58 people homeless.
Shelter says use of temporary accommodation has risen nationally by an ‘alarming’ 74 per cent over the last decade thanks to a ‘chronic shortage’ of social homes.
Here in Greater Manchester, there are ongoing plans to tackle homelessness. Mayor Andy Burnham has expanded Greater Manchester's emergency accommodation scheme to help people who end up sleeping on the streets.
And in the city of Manchester, more social housing is being built to address the long waiting lists and the town hall is investing in temporary accommodation.
Meanwhile, the picture for individuals and families trapped without a home is bleak.
According to Government figures as of March 2022, 68 per cent of families with children in temporary accommodation have been living there for longer than a year.
In a Shelter survey of 1,112 households in temporary accommodation, 63 per cent said their living situation had had a negative impact on their mental health.
Half said this had negatively affected their physical health and 39 per cent said living in temporary accommodation had made it harder to access GP and other healthcare appointments.
Shelter’s homelessness estimates have been reached using Government statistics, Freedom of Information requests, and data from the membership charity Homeless Link.
They cover people in temporary accommodation, hostels, and those on the streets. They do not include the various forms of hidden or unofficial homelessness, such as sofa surfing or overcrowded homes and, as such, are likely to be an underestimate.
The national total is down by one per cent from the previous year, when 274,000 were estimated to be homeless on any given night in 2021.
This is driven by a 2 per cent fall in the number of people living in temporary accommodation, after a peak in early 2020, when the Government rolled out the Everyone In scheme during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
A Government spokesperson said councils have a duty to ensure no family is left without a roof over their heads.
“That is why we’ve given them £366 million this year to help prevent evictions, support to pay deposits and provide temporary housing,” they said. “Temporary accommodation is always a last resort. Over half a million households have been prevented from becoming homeless since 2018 through the Homelessness Reduction Act.
“We are also providing significant support to help people through these tough times by holding down energy bills and delivering up to £1,350 in direct cash payments to millions of vulnerable households.”
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