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Local authorities must consider the needs of people from ethnic minorities when they develop their homelessness strategies, housing minister Tony McNulty has urged.

Speaking at a regeneration conference last week, he said that for too long the extent of homelessness among ethnic minorities had been hidden.

"We need to look at how age, gender and culture interact among different ethnic minority groups and we need to learn from what we find and respond effectively," he said.

Under the Homelessness Act 2002, which came into effect on 31 July last year, councils have a duty to formulate a strategy to tackle homelessness by July 2003 and to review it every five years.

Government figures on ethnicity published for the first time last September showed that almost one in four homeless households accepted by councils as being homeless were from an ethnic minority.