It is often reported that London has the largest population of homeless people in the UK; however it is important to remember that not having a home is a national problem.
There are numerous reasons for a person ending up living on the streets, which are not all down to the stereotypical opinion that they must be gamblers or addicts. The main cause for losing a home is typically financial problems, however the reasons as to why someone physically ends up on the street as a final resort is debatable. In 2008, The Office of Homelessness Statistics reported that the largest reason for people ending up on the streets is due to the "inability or unwillingness of family and friends to accommodate them" once they have lost their home, resulting in them ending up in this unsafe situation but others say the government should support those unable to support themselves more effectively.
Due to many reasons there is not a final figure of the amount of homeless people in the UK, one of which is the numerous ways in which homelessness can be counted, for instance if you are fortunate enough to be eligible for the system of 'temporary housing', which is a Government scheme for if you're deemed a "priority need", you will receive emergency shelter. Many elements make you eligible for this, some include if you're pregnant, if you have dependent children or if the cause of your loss of home is down to an emergency such as a flood or a fire; however you are still defined technically homeless.
Although the rate of homeless people at the moment is not at the nations highest it is feared to grow due to the changes to benefits and the rights of squatters which could lead to more people ending up on the street. If this does happen then the additonal numbers and fear of this year's winter weather being similarly cold to last years, when the average temperature was only 1.51C, will lead to even more strain on the already understaffed and underfunded UK charities.
Resources:
http://www.crisis.org.uk/policywatch/pages/homelessness_statistics.html#gvih
http://homeless.org.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_England
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_2010%E2%80%932011_in_Great_Britain_and_Ireland#Deaths
http://www.homelesslondon.org/details.asp?id=LP82