Government commits to end asylum hotels

The government has said it will end the “costly use of hotels to house asylum seekers”.

Delivering her Spending Review to MPs in parliament today, chancellor Rachel Reeves promised to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029.

While discussing spending related to border security, Reeves said the government is tackling the “asylum backlog” – a point first raised in the Labour manifesto.

Spending on Border Security Command will increase by up to £280m a year and this funding will be used to “cut the asylum backlog, hear more appeal cases, and return people who have no right to be here”.

Reeves said bringing an end to the use of hotels to house asylum seekers will save the taxpayer £1b a year.

Hundreds of hotels up and down the country have been used to house asylum seekers under both the Conservative and Labour governments.

Last summer, two Holiday Inn hotels were attacked in Rotheram and Tamworth by protestors believing the sites were housing asylum seekers.

At the time, prime minister Keir Starmer condemned “far-right thuggery” after masked individuals attacked police and hotel buildings.

Several police officers were injured by 700 people gathered outside the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in the Manvers area of Rotherham.