New research from Homeless Link shows that reduced welfare support for young people is already increasing their chances of becoming homeless.
Young and Homeless 2012 provides "a strong case as to why the Government should not go ahead with any proposed plans to cut housing benefit for under 25 year olds".
In June Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that £2bn could be cut from the benefits budget by removing the right to housing benefit from young adults.
Lib Dems in Government are opposed to the idea. On Wednesday the Chancellor will make his Autumn Statement to the Commons, which is expected to contain decisions on benefit cuts.
The Homeless Link study found that at a time of rising homelessness among under-25, the main cause of which is family breakdown, welfare reforms are restricting the ability of communities to house all those who need help and potentially adding to a rise in homelessness.
Rick Henderson, Chief Executive for Homeless Link, the umbrella body for homelessness charities, said:
"These findings highlight the impact that capping welfare for young people is already having on their ability to find housing. Homelessness among the under-25s is increasing in many areas while unemployment, rising rents and cuts to homelessness and youth services are leaving many with nowhere to turn.
"Cutting housing benefit would do nothing to help young people with no safe place to go because they have faced abuse at home or their family has fallen apart. Nor will it help those who have to claim housing benefit because they are in low paid jobs and face high rents.
"What we need now is services that prevent homelessness, such as safe emergency accommodation, and local authorities, providers and landlords working together to increase access to private rented accommodation.
"These young people are this country’s future and it’s time we began investing in them."
Welfare changes include the extension of the shared accommodation rate (SAR) to under 35 year olds, which has increased the number of people competing for shared accommodation previously prioritised for under 25 year olds.
The survey of 117 homeless charities and 101 local authority housing services found that, due to these changes, 65% reported a negative impact on the ability of young people to access private rented accommodation due to the extension of SAR.
It also found that since last year, 50% of providers say more young people are seeking support, while 65% of young people supported by providers are homeless due to relationship breakdown with family, friends or partners and 54% of providers report closures of youth services in their area due to funding cuts.
More than half of providers are turning young people away because they are full and almost half of services have reported difficulties supporting 16-17 year olds due to ineffective relationships with children’s services.
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