More than a quarter of Croydon's homeless population were forced onto the streets, or the sofas of friends, after their private tenancy ended.

Since 2010 the number of former private tenants presenting as homeless to Croydon Council has more than trebled, with 525 people falling into that category in the last year, new figures show.

Homelessness problem in Croydon ‘worse than it has been for 40 years’

In the same period, the borough’s homeless population has risen by nearly half.

The council has received 1,822 reports of people becoming homeless in the borough since September 2014.

The figures were released by Croydon Council after a Freedom of Information request by Tom Chance, the Green Party’s housing spokesman, as part of research into homelessness across the capital.

He said: "We're aware than an increasing proportion of homeless cases are because of tenancy agreements ending. We think it's related to Government cuts in housing benefit, general increase in rents, and insecure tenancy agreements. It's becoming harder and harder to maintain for tenants to maintain their tenancy."

Assured shorthold tenancy agreements, the most common type of contract between landlords and private tenants, were criticised by then-Labour leader Ed Miliband before May's general election as being too short-term and insecure.

Jad Adams, chairman of Croydon's Nightwatch charity, said: "These figures don't surprise me in the slightest. We have seen an increase in people who have been kicked out of where they were living just because the landlord wanted to develop the property.

“They have been perfectly good tenants, but if a landlord wants to redevelop a property they have the right to do it."

He added: "The problem is one of an absurdly inflated housing market which Croydon shares with the rest of London. The only real solution is to build more homes, and to make sure they are available at affordable rents so there somewhere else for a tenant to move to.

"It's been a social failing over generations [not building more houses]."

Chris Philp, Conservative MP for Croydon South, said: "The way to combat homelessness is to build more housing, especially on brownfield land. The Housing Bill about to go through Parliament aims to do this.

"It is also very important to get people into work, and this week’s figures showing the lowest unemployment since 2008 are a good sign."