Homelessness Soars In Rural England As Living Costs Hit Poor

Rough sleepers lay in their makeshift beds outside closed shops, at daybreak on Oxford Street in London on August 2, 2023. Homeless has soared across Britain where a cost of living crisis has left many struggling to make ends meet. The CPRE charity said on December 26, 2023, that the number of rural homeless in England had risen by 40 percent since 2018. (Credit: AFP)

Homelessness in rural England has risen by 40 percent in five years with many sleeping in the open air, tents or makeshift shelters, a British rural charity said on Tuesday.

A cost-of-living crisis in the G7 nation and the world's sixth-biggest economy, fuelled by high inflation, has left many Britons struggling to make ends meet, as bills for food, energy, rent and mortgages increase.