Over 32,000 asylum seekers being housed in hotels
The number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels has risen by 8%
The number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels has risen by 8% on the same point last year, according to newly published data.
The figures come just days after a court ruled that more than 100 asylum seekers currently staying at a hotel in Essex should be removed from the accommodation after a council brought a legal case.
The High Court judgment has led to ministers bracing for further legal challenges from councils across the country and pressure on the Government as to where else they can house asylum seekers.
The latest Home Office data, published on Thursday as part of the usual quarterly immigration statistics, cover Labour’s first year in office.
They show there were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June.
This was up from 29,585 at the same point a year earlier, when the Conservatives were still in power but down slightly on the 32,345 figure at the end of March.
The latest number is still below the peak of 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels at the end of September 2023 under the Tories.
Figures for hotels published by the Home Office on Thursday date back to December 2022.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation, known as contingency accommodation, if they are awaiting assessment of their claim or have had a claim approved and there is not enough longer-term accommodation available.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office – which has a legal obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute – can move people to alternatives such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases.