Failed attempt to house asylum seekers on RAF Scampton cost 48m
The plan was launched under the Conservative government and called off by the Labour government last year
Last updated 1st Aug 2025
Figures show the failed attempt to house asylum seekers on RAF Scampton has cost the Home Office at least £48m.
Not a single person was ever housed at the site – the former home of the Dambusters – despite millions being poured into the project.
The plan was launched under the Conservative government and called off by the Labour government last year.
The losses, recently published in the Home Office’s accounts for the last year, could have ballooned as high as £180m if the project had been pursued for another three years.
The government has previously admitted that a total of around £60m was spent on the site, of which £48.5m has been recorded as a loss.
Lincoln MP Hamish Falconer said Robert Jenrick – the Conservative minister for immigration at the time – needed to account for the decision.
“There are real questions for Robert Jenrick about why he kept pushing his disastrous plan for Scampton,” he said on social media.
“Local people were opposed, costs were rocketing, and the taxpayer was losing tens of millions. It took a Labour MP and Government to stop the madness.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “A review carried out in September 2024 determined that, due to decisions taken by the previous government, the costs associated with the Scampton site had surged well beyond initial estimates and no longer delivered value for money for taxpayers.
“The cost of exiting this site was minimal compared to the projected minimum £180 million required to keep it running until March 2027.”
The Local Democracy Service has approached both the Conservative party and Mr Jenrick for a comment and hadn’t received a reply at time of writing.
Speaking while minister in 2023, the Newark MP said: “The Home Secretary and I have been clear that using expensive hotels for asylum seekers is wholly unacceptable.
“Delivering accommodation on surplus military sites will provide cheaper and more orderly, suitable accommodation for those arriving in small boats.”
The former airbase has been placed on the open market to help recoup the costs of the failed project.
There are reportedly several interested parties, including West Lindsey District Council who have £300m regeneration plans for the site.