The number of households in emergency accommodation in Kent's most deprived district has almost doubled in a year - and is “likely to get worse”.

A staggering 542 individuals or families in Thanet needed urgently housing in 2021/22 - up from 273 the previous financial year.

It comes as recent ONS figures reveal more than a third of households in the district face deprivation because of either education, employment, health, and housing - the highest in the county.

Thanet District Council now has more than 600 active ‘homelessness cases’, which includes those who are currently homeless, at risk of homelessness and being supported by rough sleeping services, or awaiting a council decision on whether to house them.

There are also currently more than 200 households in the district in temporary accommodation - meaning they would likely be homeless otherwise.

Until recently some were housed at Florence Court Hotel in Cliftonville, which was placed under investigation by the council last month following a series of complaints.

The guest house was the subject of claims over issues with mice, the cleanliness of the building and people trying to force their way into rooms.

TDC, which had used the hotel since 2015, spent £30,000 this year alone housing families and individuals at the site.

The authority recently projected an overspend of £880,000 just on temporary accommodation needs, on top of an additional £400,000 this financial year allocated to deal with homelessness and fund related services.

At the same times, Kent County Council is pushing forward with its plans to axe its £5 million Homelessness Connect service in 2024.

The decision has been branded “devastating” by local homelessness charity Porchlight, which is part of the Kent Homelessness Connect scheme.

In early October, TDC was awarded £3.8 million from the government to help rough sleepers over the next three years.

Currently 51 units of accommodation are provided by Kent Homelessness Connect in Thanet, but could be lost as the scheme ends.

A TDC spokesperson said: “We have managed to secure interim funding to keep these services running until March 2024, however after that period they are at risk.

“The loss of these bedspaces will lead to increased demand for the council’s statutory homelessness service.”

A spokesman for Porchlight - Kent’s largest homelessness charity - said: “It's a perfect storm of issues that is likely to get worse over the coming months.”

A spokesperson for the charity added: “The cost of living crisis is pushing households on low incomes into homelessness.

“It’s not an issue that’s specific to Thanet – we hear from people across Kent who are struggling to afford the cost of housing, bills and food and are terrified of losing their home.”

“Many landlords are selling their properties or converting them to Airbnbs, leaving renters with nowhere to go.”

The local authority concurs, saying that landlords serving section 21 eviction notices are one of a number of reasons for the increase.

Better known as no-fault evictions, Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 allows landlords to turf out tenants at short notice without establishing any fault on their part.

The national government committed in the 2022 Queen’s Speech to develop a ‘renters reform bill’ to ban such evictions.

Both the local authority and charity agree that they can’t fight the surge in homelessness alone, and that more support is needed from central government.

Cllr Jill Bayford (Cons), TDC cabinet member for housing, said: “We will be lobbying the government to express our concerns around the demand for affordable housing in the district, and to ensure we have the powers and resources to be able to deliver what is needed.”