One in 10 people between 16 and 24 fear a life on the streets, according to a new study.

Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, found that many young people feared family rows or debt troubles may force them on to the streets.

"Through our services and work with young people we are aware of the range of housing and homelessness issues facing them, however we are shocked at the poll results which highlight the enormous scale of the problem," said Ben Jackson, the charity's director of external affairs.

Last year a separate study found that nearly 500,000 people were forced to leave their homes, with over 20,000 people ending up sleeping rough.

Increases in house prices have also increased the problems of young people forced to leave home.

Shelter found that many would happily live in poor conditions, or with a bad landlord, in return for low rent.

Nearly, one in five people questioned admitted they would not know where to turn if they faced homelessness.

A spokesman for Nescafe, co sponsors of the study, said: "These results show that housing issues are far wider than just homelessness and that in most cases, young people are unprepared for these problems."