Over half of homeless people leaving hostels are ending up back on the streets, according to a major new survey.

The survey, conducted by St Mungo's, the London homelessness organisation, studied the cases of over 10,000 homeless people and concluded that rehabilitation services are often inadequate.

"We know that many homeless people are drifting from the streets to hostels and back to the streets. We suspect this is because their fundamental needs are not being addressed," said Charles Fraser, director of St Mungo's.

The survey suggests that only about a third of those who leave hostels are resettled into independent accommodation, treatment centres or to other homelessness projects. It goes on to say that where a higher level of care is required, that figure is doubled.

"This survey challenges the common view that all homeless people need is a roof over their heads - it shows that homelessness is a common problem needing many solutions," said Mr Fraser.

The London-based charity, Thames Outreach, estimates that half of those who sleep rough have alcohol problems, and a third have other mental health problems.

Like many charities, St Mungo's runs specialist accommodation for people who are alcoholics and those who are mentally ill. Mr Fraser said these specialist centres were more successful in resettling people back into the community than their ordinary shelters.

"The longer we can get people to stay in hostels by helping them with mental illness or addictions the more chance we have of resettling them into the community," he said.

The new findings roughly tally with the experiences of other charities, such as Crisis and Shelter. Both these charities agree that additional support is vital to ensure successful rehabilitation.

"We certainly find that once people move out of shelters and into more permanent accommodation they need extra support. If they don't get this, we could well see them back on the street," said Susan Littlemore from Shelter.

"They often need basic budgeting skills. They can't cook for themselves. People become de-educated on the streets," she said.

The St Mungo's study also suggests that the longer a homeless person stays in shelters, the better the chances of a successful rehabilitation.

Almost half of the people who enter St Mungo's hostels stay for less than a month before moving on. Two thirds leave in less than three months, according to the survey. A spokeswomen from Crisis suggested that this part of the survey's findings missed the point: "In our experience it isn't the length of time so much as the range of services offered to the homeless which is important."

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