Thousands of families are fighting to keep a roof over their heads as the cost of living crisis escalates and landlords rush to cash in on privately-rented homes.

Homeless charity Porchlight has warned Kent is "looking down the barrel" of a homelessness crisis with figures spiking to the emergency levels last seen at the onset of the pandemic.

In the first three months of 2022, there were 2,423 households in Kent homeless or at risk of homelessness – a 7% increase on the previous quarter, according to new data released by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Outside of Medway (503), Swale recorded the highest number of deprived families at risk (251) whereas the area with the least was Tonbridge & Malling (65).

Alongside Canterbury, Maidstone and Thanet it was among a small number of areas which saw a slight reduction in the number of households due either prevention or relief duty from the council.

The latest statistics make for "worrying" reading for homeless charities with households struggling to keep apace with soaring food and gas prices.

It comes as private landlords also look to cash in on surging house prices and sell their properties, causing a slump in the rental market.

Chris Thomas, from Kent-based homeless charity Porchlight, said: "It is quite a worrying time for Porchlight actually. We're seeing over the past few months the number of people sleeping rough are starting to rise.

"We also work with a lot of people who are at risk of losing their homes or maybe sofa surfing or have unstable accommodation."

The communications chief added: "It's becoming really difficult to help everyone we need to and what we are seeing is rents are being pushed up, landlords are selling up and there's a lot of people in Kent that just can't afford to live any more.

"We're sort of looking down the barrel of a homelessness crisis."

During the pandemic, protections were put in place for renters but those were lifted in May last year and the impact continues to be felt.

Chris adds: "Since that ban has been lifted we have been seeing more and more evictions.

"We're hearing from people who are skipping meals and not using their electricity because they can barely afford to pay rent. Or they are using credit cards and getting into debt just to cover the basics."

Porchlight's dedicated helpline hears from individuals and families every day who are reporting they have nothing left to cut back on.

They include people like David who is no stranger to skipping meals and leaving his electricity and heating off.

The 60-year-old from Thanet used to restore antiques but lost his job in 2018.

He was searching for work when the pandemic hit and its effect on his mental health left him feeling too anxious to attend job interviews.

“Before I met Porchlight I was in debt with no way out," David said. "I was depressed and not talking to anyone.

"I didn’t heat my home during winter and would keep warm by getting into bed in the mid-afternoon.”

As the cost of living began to rise, David found the Universal Credit (UC) payments he relied on were no longer enough to keep afloat and he began skipping meals and falling behind on energy bill payments.

He contacted Porchlight for help at the recommendation of his UC coach who could see something was wrong.

Its community mental health team is now helping David to turn things around and have worked with utility companies on his behalf to arrange manageable repayment plans for his debts.

They've also been helping him to improve his mental health so he’s in a position to get back into work.

“I’m being brought back to the person I used to be," he added.

But there are many others struggling who are going undetected and the latest government statistics do not cover those sofa surfing, living in squats, or in other insecure short-term accommodation.

Porchlight spokesman Chris added the "true scale" of hidden homelessness is masked with vulnerable groups such a single young women most at risk

This includes the banned practice of "sex for rent" where predatory landlords are advertising rooms in exchange for sexual favours instead of rent.

"Women are having to put themselves in unsafe situations," Chris explains.

"If rents are going up and people aren't able to cover the costs of basic living, people sadly do whatever they can to keep a roof over their head and avoid the streets.

He added: "We hear from quite a few women who are made homeless and they are forced to sofa surf sometimes or stay with someone who doesn't have their best interests at heart.

"They are putting themselves in quite a dangerous position because it's between that and ending up on the streets."

Porchlight has services and funds set aside to help women in those situations but say it can often "prove difficult to reach out to them".

"It's a really problematic area and I think more can be done there," adds Chris.

"Essentially we need to fix the housing crisis and the cost of living crisis so people don't end up in this situation in the first place."

The charity has previously warned about the "devastating" impact of withdrawing the £5 million-a-year Kent Homeless Connect (KHC) service.

KHC helps rough sleepers find housing, jobs and health appointments, but the service could be stopped by Kent County Council on September 30 due to "severe financial challenges".

During the pandemic, local authorities supported people in getting off the streets through the government's ‘Everyone In’ initiative.

But according to housing charity Shelter, one in four that were helped to find a bed under the scheme are still not living in settled accommodation two years on.

Porchlight says a lack of affordable housing in Kent is preventing it and other organisations from finding permanent homes for people who no longer need support.

In response, councils are ramping up the number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) in circulation to offer stable accommodation for the homeless to rebuild their lives.

But the situation is far from helpless and if we are to truly "break the cycle of homelessness" Chris believes additional action needs to be taken.

"HMOs is an approach that works for most people," he said. "But we're actually trying to move to a different method of helping people."

The charity worker added: "Housing-led support is our solution to the growing homelessness crisis here in Kent.

If you are in urgent need of help, contact Porchlight on its free helpline on 0800 567 7699

"It’s based on an internationally-recognised approach to helping people with complex needs, such as mental ill health, trauma or issues related to alcohol or drugs, who struggle to break the cycle of homelessness and have often been on the streets for years."

It works by moving someone experiencing homelessness straight into their own home instead of accommodation that is shared with others.

Once they have the safety and security of their own home, they can start to address other issues they are facing, such as mental ill health or drug or alcohol dependency.

No conditions are placed on people other than they must show a willingness to engage with a support worker.

"Giving someone a home of their own accompanied by long-term support is the best way to help people recover from homelessness," adds Chris.

"When someone feels safe, secure and included, they will, in their own time, start to recover and make positive choices about how they live their life."

He says the approach has already been trialled in Kent and has shown positive results but needs more investment from the government.

"We’ve already trialled this approach to much success," he added.

"People who had been sleeping rough for over 15 years and struggled to engage with other types of homelessness support were able to rebuild their lives."