In Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell describes the very low cost (and low quality) accomodations available to very poor people in England in the 1930s. In the U.S. at present, such accomodations would be illegal--probably in every major city. That may be one reason for homelessness.

At least two things are interesting about Orwell's account of the situation in London at the time. One is that he compares the for-profit accommodations favorably with the accomodations provided by the Salvation Army--on the grounds that although the latter are physically more attractive, the former have a "laissez-faire" approach to their customers, and don't try to keep them from enjoying themselves.

The other is that, after describing what is obviously a competitive industry to provide very low cost housing, Orwell suggests "improving" it a little by imposing some minimal quality requirements, such as walled off cubicles instead of dormitory style sleeping arrangements. It apparently does not occur to him that, in a competitive market, higher cost housing will have a higher price--or that if very poor people were willing to pay that price, it would pay entrepreneurs to provide that housing.