A new study shows that the exact number of homeless young people in Britain is three times higher than the official figures provided by the government.

The findings came out of the year-long research by Cambridge University’s Center for Housing and Planning Research, whose extracts were published by the Independent on Sunday.

About 83,000 young Britons were forced to rely on councils and charities for shelter over the past year, compared to the 26,852 youths recorded by the British Department for Communities and Local Government, according to the study.

The research described the number of 16- to 25-year-olds using homelessness services as “worryingly high,” adding it is “a minimum estimate and it is likely that in reality more homeless young people access support across the UK.”

The study further emphasized the need for “coherent national data on youth homelessness” in order to understand the true scale of the problem in the British society and deliver support to the vulnerable.

Commenting on the newly released research, Centrepoint, the UK’s leading charity which supports homeless young people with housing, learning, health and life skills, criticized successive British governments for failing to “grasp the sheer scale of youth homelessness in the UK.”

“We’re seeing the consequences of funding decisions based on this lack of knowledge which have placed extreme pressure on charities and local authorities, with the majority of hostels full or oversubscribed,” said Balbir Chatrik, the Centrepoint policy director.

Shelter, another charity that campaigns to end homelessness and bad housing in England and Scotland, also reacted to the study, saying, it paints a “grim picture” of youth homelessness in Britain.

The study “demonstrates that the [UK] government’s current plan to cut housing benefit for 18- to 21-year-olds could be nothing short of catastrophic – as it’s this which helps to pay for the hostel beds that keep young people off the streets,” said Campbell Robb, the chief executive of Shelter.

Back in June, charities warned that the UK is heading for a homelessness crisis, saying the number of households in temporary accommodation has increased to nearly 65,000, the highest since 2008.

Britain’s former coalition government, led by the Conservatives, launched austerity measures, including welfare cuts, when it came to power in 2010 in a bid to tackle the country’s mounting debt and sluggish growth following the 2009 financial crisis in Europe.

The new UK Tory government, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, has also signaled that it will continue its austerity agenda despite public protests against its controversial cuts in recent years.

SSM/MKA