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Homelessness charities have warned ministers against complacency, after the government revealed that the number of people sleeping rough has fallen by well over half over three years.

The rough sleepers unit's progress report on the government's strategy to reduce street sleeping estimates there are around 700 people sleeping rough in England, compared with 1,850 in 1998. The government's target is to reduce the number of rough sleepers by at least two thirds by 2002.

But homelessness charities have warned that while people are leaving the streets, a big flow of new rough sleepers continues. In the first four months of this year, Shelter helped 1,320 people in London who had experienced street homelessness.

"Evidence suggests that the total number of people experiencing street homelessness in a year is far greater than the numbers found at the time of a count," a coalition of homelessness groups, including Shelter, Crisis and Centrepoint, said in a statement.

Ceri Sheppard, acting director of Homelessness Network, said resources needed to be in place to deal with the flow of newly homeless people.

"This needs co-ordination of government policy, particularly on housing, drugs, crime, health, community care, prison and army discharge policy and support for vulnerable people," she said.