Barnet has the 17th highest number of homelessness in England, a new study shows.

A study from Shelter ranked Barnet as having the 17th highest number of homeless people in the UK at 7,033, and 16th highest of the London boroughs.

It was recorded that one in 55 people are homeless in the borough, with 22 sleeping rough and 7,011 living in temporary accommodation.

Victoria, 72, a woman in Enfield, spoke out about her difficulties finding a home.

She said: “After getting my eviction notice I desperately tried to find another place to rent but to no avail.

"I found landlords either didn’t want to let to someone on housing benefit, even though I’ve always paid my rent, or the properties were simply too expensive for me."

She said she found presenting herself as homeless "humiliating and scary" and spends every day dealing with letting agents or searching for a place to rent, though she is in temporary accommodation.

She added: "If I get the chance to visit a friend’s house it’s so hard to come back to this place afterwards, and leave behind the warm environment a of a real home.

"The whole thing makes me feel like there is something wrong with me. I’ve moved around a lot, and yet for the first time in my life I feel like I have no control over my situation.

"I’m not easily scared, but the fear is terrible – you just don’t know where you are doing to end up. I’m in a constant state of anxiety and stress."

Shelter is working with Victoria to help her find a home, while there are 164,400 people homeless in London.

Cllr Tom Davey, chairman of Barnet Council’s housing committee, said: "Demand for housing in London remains very high and we are committed to meeting that need by building new homes.

"Barnet Homes are building 320 new affordable homes by 2020 and more than 27,000 new homes are expected to be delivered over the next 10 years through our regeneration projects.

"In recent years we have worked hard to reduce the number of households in temporary accommodation. This work has seen the number of households in temporary accommodation be reduced by 10 per cent in the last three years."

To support Shelter’s urgent appeal visit www.shelter.org.uk or text SHELTER to 70080 to donate £3.