Mr Corbyn insisted Labour would intervene on the housing market in a 'number of ways' to help social tenants, private renters and first time buyers.
Figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government last week revealed 4,751 people were sleeping rough in 2017 - the highest figure in the eight years rough sleeping has been tracked.
Some 760 were European nationals while another 402 people refused to reveal a nationality when asked. Labour said if it wins power, it would also seek to buy up housing association properties when they become vacant and hand them to homeless people instead of making them available again as affordable homes.
The housing association properties would then be replaced in a wider house building programme. Labour's manifesto claimed it will build 100,000 'genuinely affordable' for renting and buying each year.
In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr how he would fix rough sleeping, Mr Corbyn said: '(We would) immediately purchase 8,000 properties across the country to give immediate housing to those people that are currently homeless.
'At the same time we would require local authorities to build far more. 'The problem is homeless people, rough sleepers, beg to get money for a night shelter, stay in the night shelter or a hostel.
'The problem then is move on accommodation, the problem then is not having an address, without which can't get a job or claim benefits.'
Mr Corbyn agreed there was a major problem with new flats being bought and sold off plan by foreign investors before they are left empty.
Asked by Marr homeless people should be handed empty luxury flats, the Labour leader said: 'We would give local authorities the power to take over deliberately kept vacant properties.
'When you have in the middle of an area where there is a lot of housing stress, many people rough sleeping, you have luxury, glossy, glistening block built, sold off plan to long distance overseas investors who may buy it and sell it before it is even built.
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