 Many families will cancel Christmas because of money worries |
Two hundred families in Wales will spend Christmas in bed and breakfast accomodation, according to homeless charity Shelter Cymru. Many other families cannot afford to celebrate the festive season, it says.
The charity announced its findings on the 40th anniversary of the broadcast of the homeless drama Cathy Come Home.
"Homelessness is devastating all year round but Christmas is an especially difficult time," said John Puzey, director of Shelter Cymru.
"Forty years ago, people didn't realise how homelessness and bad housing affects lives," he said.
 |  If the mortgage rates go up any more it's a case of thinking, 'I'm going to have to lose my home' |
"Today, we do know and the problem is greater than ever and it can happen to anyone.
"How can we accept that 35,000 children in Wales today are living in unfit housing?
"For many people, the festive season is special time. On the other hand, Christmas and winter time brings cold, damp misery and suffering."
Repayments
One family who have "cancelled Christmas" this year because of financial worries is headed by Dawn, who did not want to give her full name.
She and her four daughters, one of whom is pregnant, still live in the house she once shared with her former husband.
Despite holding down a full time job, Dawn cannot afford to pay for vital repairs needed to her house and her family help out in paying for food.
"By the time I've paid the council tax, mortgage and TV licence I'm left with very little, about �20 a week," she said.
When her former husband left, Dawn fell into arrears and was forced to get a new mortgage.
But the interest rate was higher than she could afford and the repayments have continued to increase.
Although she has been helped by Shelter Cymru, she fears she is still close to losing her home.
She said: "If the mortgage rates go up any more it's a case of thinking, 'I'm going to have to lose my home'.
"I'll never be able to buy another house and at the end of the day, I'll be blacklisted - I'll be living in a suitcase going from home to home."
Shelter Cymru said it was looking to push the housing issue up the political agenda.
Mr Puzey said: "With additional resources, imagination and political will, it could be."
The charity has been gathering evidence for its "25th birthday inquiry" into homelessness and bad housing, which concludes with a public session at the Grand Theatre, Swansea on 20 December.
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