Levels of homelessness in rural areas have increased by 40% over the last five years, research by a countryside charity has revealed.
A report by CPRE found that a greater proportion of people are sleeping rough in the seven worst affected rural local authorities than they are in London, Leeds, or Norwich.
The seven council areas are Bedford, Boston, North Devon, Cornwall, Boston, Bath and Northeast Somerset, Torridge, and Great Yarmouth.
In September, 48 people per 100,000 were sleeping rough in Boston, England’s worst-affected rural local authority.
The figures for Bedford and North Devon, which have the next-highest rates of rough sleeping, were 38 and 29 respectively. This compares with 23 in London, 19 in Norwich and 14 in Leeds.
In England, 12 local authorities designated as largely or predominantly rural had levels of rough sleeping higher than the national average (15 people per 100,000), according to CPRE’s report.
