NSW: Huge spike in number of people sleeping rough as Australia's housing ... trends now
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Homelessness has surged across NSW as the state's housing crisis pushes an increasing number of people onto the streets.
The annual street count, released on Friday, revealed a 25 per cent spike in the tally of people sleeping rough statewide.
Officials found 2,037 sleeping on the streets during the February headcount, up from 1,623 a year earlier.
Some of the largest increases were in coastal areas, including a near-80 per cent rise in rough-sleepers in the Coffs Harbour council region.
Byron Shire, a popular tourist region in the state's north, had the most people sleeping rough of any local government area in the state.
It and other ocean-side regions, such as Sydney's northern beaches, have become home to large camps of homeless people sleeping in tents amid a dire shortage of affordable
