Number of asylum hotels falls to 185 after 11 close

Number of asylum hotels falls to 185 after 11 close15 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKate Whannel,Political reporterandKaty Austin,Political correspondentBBCThe Crewe Arms Hotel in Cheshire is one of those that will no longer house asylum seekersEleven hotels will no longer be used to house asylum seekers, bringing the total number down to 185 from a peak of around 400. Home Office Minister Alex Norris said the fall was due to increased removals of people with no right to stay in the UK and housing others in alternative sites such as military barracks. He said asylum hotels had been a "point of significant frustration" for local communities as well as acting as pull factor, encouraging people to come to the UK illegally.The Conservatives said the government was "shunting people from hotels into residential apartments to hide what is going on".Asylum seekers are not normally allowed to work in the first 12 months while they are waiting for their asylum claim to be processed and if they cannot secure their own place to live, the Home Office is legally required to house them. The use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers increased dramatically in 2020, driven by a backlog in processing asylum claims and a lack of long-term housing. Their use has proved controversial, triggering protests in local communities and legal challenges from councils, as well as concerns over the cost. In 2024-2025, £2.1bn was spent on hotels and the previous year the figure stood at £3bn - or £8.3m per day. According to the figures published in December, there were 103,426 people in asylum accommodation, 30,657 of whom were in hotels. Around two-thirds are housed in "dispersal accommodation" which normally means houses in the community. The next official figures are due out in May but Norris said he expected the level of people in hotels to have fallen to below the level of 29,585 when Labour came to power.The number of people being housed in asyl...