One in every 200 people in Britain is homeless – sleeping on the streets or stuck in temporary accommodation, including hostels and B&Bs, according to analysis from housing charity Shelter. But it might surprise you to know that despite not having a secure home, a small but significant proportion of people experiencing homelessness are in paid employment.

Indeed, former prime minister Theresa May, in a speech about tackling homelessness, said:. Dealing with homelessness…is about more than just accommodation…the key thing is ensuring people can be in work and can be earning and not find themselves in that situation.

Indeed, recent analysis from the housing charity Shelter found that 55% of families in temporary accommodation are in work. And that this rise in “working homelessness” is being driven by a combination of expensive private rents, the ongoing freeze on housing benefit and a chronic lack of social housing.

We found that people lost their homes for a variety of reasons. These included eviction, relationship breakdowns and the ending of short-term tenancy agreements.

And being on low incomes, the people we spoke to were excluded from private rental properties. One of the people in our study explains more:

Even where they could afford properties, many were discriminated against by landlords who would not accept tenants receiving Housing Benefit: Every time I phoned a letting agent they would just turn me away straightaway…they turn around and say, ‘Actually you’re not able to have this property because you’ll be on Housing Benefit.’…[even though] I’m working part-time”.

Interviewees spoke about how they found staying in work while facing homelessness very challenging. One participant talked about struggling to be presentable, with nowhere to wash his clothes:.

Being in work could also limit people’s housing options, as finding affordable accommodation within travelling distance of their workplace was challenging:. We were offered temporary housing but they didn’t have anything [close enough to where I work]…I work in a care home where I do late shifts…I also work in a local pub and sometimes I don’t finish until 1:00am…I can’t be walking to a couple of villages across and I can’t afford taxis.

Another person we spoke to explained how suitable accommodation wasn’t always an option:. When you’re working in a professional place and you’ve got to wear a shirt and tie to work with shoes and look ironed and pressed I don’t really want to [stay in a hostel]…I don’t even know if the shoes are still going to be there in the morning.

Read more: Ken Loach’s new film on the gig economy tells exactly the same story as our research. Many participants felt they were on their own.

Others moved into unsuitable accommodation:. We’ve actually found a house, even though I don’t think it’s suitable.

One participant got into debt to access accommodation. While this got rid of the immediate threat of homelessness, they were now in a property they couldn’t afford:.

As our research highlights, being in employment isn’t a straightforward solution to homelessness. And if the UK is serious about ending homelessness then broader issues, such as low pay, insecure work and a lack of affordable housing need to be tackled.

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