At least 50,000 council tenants have fallen behind on their rent since the housing benefit welfare reforms came into force, new figures suggest.
Campaigners claim a third of council tenants affected by the changes, dubbed a "bedroom tax" by critics, are in arrears and facing eviction.
Renewing their call for the cut to be scrapped, the TUC's False Economy group claimed the figures would only rise and warned of a "full-blown crisis".
The group made Freedom of Information requests to all British councils and 114 responded to reveal 50,000 households can no longer pay for their accommodation.
This equates to 31% of those affected by the reduction in payouts, which came into force this April as part of a welfare overhaul, the group said.
In Barrow, three quarters had fallen behind and 67% were also in arrears in Clackmannanshire. The level was at least 50% in Tamworth, South Kestevan and Rotherham.
A separate study by the National Housing Federation (NHF) found a quarter of people in housing association properties hit by the policy had been pushed into arrears since April.
Under the changes, council house tenants deemed to have more bedrooms than they need have their benefit slashed to tackle what the Government calls a "spare room subsidy".
Ministers say private sector renters do not get spare rooms for free, and argue the change will save around £500m annually.
But critics suggest it is forcing families into poverty and will increase the benefits bill by pushing people into the private sector.
Iain Duncan Smith is overseeing radical welfare reforms False Economy warned its early figures would rise as emergency funds given to town halls to ease the burden of the policy dries up.
Campaign manager Clifford Singer said: "Together with the raft of other benefits cuts the Government has forced through both this year and previously, the bedroom tax is driving tenants and families who were just making ends meet into arrears, and pushing those who were already struggling with the cost of living into a full-blown crisis."
He claimed people were being punished for a lack of affordable housing and a "decades-long failure" to invest in social and council housing.
NHF chief executive David Orr said: "This is the most damning evidence yet to show that the bedroom tax is pushing thousands of families into a spiralling cycle of debt.
"Housing associations are working flat-out to help their tenants cope with the changes, but they can't magic one-bedroom houses out of thin air. People are trapped.
"What more proof do politicians need that the bedroom tax is an unfair, ill-planned disaster that is hurting our poorest families? There is no other option but to repeal."
Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne added: "The jury is now in. David Cameron's hated 'bedroom tax' is pushing a generation into foodbanks and loan-sharks.
"This Government seems determined to stand up for a privileged few, but stands idle while hundreds of thousands of our neighbours are pushed into debt from which they may never recover."
The research comes days after UN special rapporteur on housing Raquel Rolnik called for the policy to be rethought, warning it was causing "great stress and anxiety" to the vulnerable.
And earlier this week, Lib Dem activists voted overwhelmingly in favour of committing the party to a review of the policy's impact.
However, the Department for Work and Pensions dismissed the significance of the findings and defended a "necessary reform to return fairness to housing benefit".
"It is just wrong to suggest the early stages of the policy - as people start to adjust to the changes - represent long-term trends in any way whatsoever," a spokesman said.
"We are carefully monitoring the policy nationally ensuring the extra funds to support vulnerable tenants are used well as these changes are introduced."
"Even after the reform we pay over 80% of most claimants' housing benefit - but the taxpayer can no longer afford to pay for people to live in properties larger than they need. It is right that people contribute to these costs, just as private renters do."
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