HOMELESSNESS in Britain could be eradicated in a decade if the simplest measures were taken.

A report by charity Crisis published today says that 100,500 social homes need to be built each year for the next 15 years to meet the needs of both homeless people and the wider cohort of people in Britain on low incomes.

It also discusses the policies needed to support those who become housed, encouraging stronger tenants’ rights and reform of housing benefit.

Ending homelessness will also require hospitals, prisons, the care system, and other parts of the state to play a role, the research finds.

Crisis said these organisations should be legally required to help prevent people leaving their care from becoming homeless.

Chief executive Jon Sparkes said that for “the first time ever” there is a comprehensive plan to make homelessness a “thing of the past.”

“We must not become a society that simply accepts homelessness as ‘a sad fact of life’ because the good news is that we know it doesn’t have to be this way.”