Households living in overcrowded privately rented properties have doubled in the past decade, campaigners have warned.
Shelter said there has been an "explosion" in the number of people living in overcrowded conditions.
More than 283,000 households who rent privately are living in cramped properties, compared with 183,000 a decade ago, and an increase of 9% on the past year alone, the charity said.
Its analysis of the English Housing Survey for 2018/19 also found there had been a huge increase in the number of families with children renting privately.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: "As the supply of new social homes grinds to a halt, we've seen an explosion in the number of people living in overcrowded private rentals.
"More and more families are crammed like sardines into homes that are too small for them because they can't afford to rent anywhere bigger.
"The odds are stacked against struggling families.
"What this country desperately needs is an alternative to private renting, which is why Shelter is urging the Government to build a new generation of genuinely affordable social homes.
"These homes would finally give people the chance of a decent place to live where they can plan for their future."
The survey found that the private rented sector now accounts for 4.6million or 19% of households.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the proportion of private rented households was steady at around 10%.
While the sector had doubled in size since 2002, the rate had hovered around 19% since 2013/14, the report said.
Of the estimated 23.5million households in England, 15million or 64% were owner-occupiers.
The proportion of households in owner occupation increased steadily from the 1980s to 2003 when it reached its peak of 71%. Since then, owner occupation had gradually declined to its current level, the report added.
An MHCLG spokesperson said: “Since 2010 this government has delivered over 464,000 new affordable homes, including 114,000 social homes.
"In addition to this, the social housing waiting list has decreased by 40% since 2012.
“Last year we delivered more homes than any year in the last 30 years and have committed to delivering a million more in this parliament.
"We have also abolished the council borrowing cap so local authorities are able to continue to build more social homes, giving families the chance to find somewhere that is safe and secure."
The Local Government Association's housing spokesman, David Renard, said: "High-quality homes for affordable and social rent are desperately needed across the country now, and councils need to be able to resume their role as major builders of affordable homes.
"The last time this country built homes at the scale that we need now was in the 1970s when councils built more than 40% of them. Councils were trusted to get on and build homes that their communities needed, and they delivered, and they can do so again."
