Home Office to 'slash' number of hotels being used for asylum seekers

The Home Office has announced more than 5,000 asylum seekers will be moved into floating vessels in a bid to “slash” the number of hotels being used for housing.

It stated the change in policy could reduce the need to source an additional 90 hotels, as asylum seekers will room-share instead of being given single hotel rooms.

The current system costs £6m a day, the government said.

Asylum seekers are due to move into new accommodation sites at Wethersfield and Scampton this summer, which can house up to 3,700 individuals in total.

Two vessels have also been secured to provide accommodation for an additional 1,000 people.

Last November, Lee Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield and Eastwood, branded hoteliers entering agreements to house asylum seekers “greedy” and said he will continue to “name and shame them” despite pleas for specific locations not to be disclosed.

Serco is responsible for accommodating some 35,645 people seeking asylum in the UK.

Court documents from November 2022 revealed approximately 11,200 people were being provided with accommodation in 84 hotels across the country.

Image Credit: Willy Barton