The Home Office has confirmed the closure of 20 migrant hotels across the UK as part of its plan to switch to using military barracks to house asylum seekers. Planning permission is being sought at Ministry of Defence sites in Bicester (Oxfordshire), Barnham (Suffolk), and Linton-on-Ouse (North Yorkshire) to accommodate 3,750 asylum seekers, the department said.
List of Closed Hotels
On Thursday, the Home Office announced that 20 more hotels have been closed. The full list includes: Dayz Away Lodge (Dudley, Black Country); Holiday Inn Ashford Central (Ashford, Kent); Best Western Atlantic (Chelmsford, Essex); The Cisswood (Horsham, Sussex); The Collection Hotel (Birmingham, West Midlands); Adagio (Leicester, East Midlands); Norwich Hotel (Norwich, Norfolk); Allerton Court (Northallerton, North Yorkshire); Mercure George (Reading, Berkshire); TLK Apartments (Bromley, Greater London); Best Western Stoke (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire); The Granby (1 The Hill) (Gravesham, Kent); Hampton by Hilton (Bristol); Delta Hotel Cheshunt (Broxbourne, Hertfordshire); Episode Leamington (Leamington Spa, Warwickshire); Oxford Witney Hotel (Oxford, Oxfordshire); Shambrook (Bedford, Bedfordshire); Bell Hotel (Epping, Essex); OYO Evesham hotel (Evesham, Worcestershire); and Best Western (Wembley, London).
Shift to Military Sites
The Home Office appears to be reviving efforts to use the disused RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse, near York, after being forced to abandon the plan in 2022 to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers due to local opposition and a council legal challenge. The government is also looking to expand the use of existing sites in Crowborough (East Sussex) until 2030 and Wethersfield (Essex) beyond 2027.
Declining Hotel Numbers
The number of asylum seekers housed temporarily in UK hotels has fallen to its lowest level since data was first reported in 2022, according to Home Office figures published last month. At the end of March, 20,885 people were staying in such accommodation while awaiting a decision on their asylum claims, down 35% year-on-year from 32,326. The total had peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023.
Minister's Statement
Border security and asylum minister Alex Norris said: “We promised to close every asylum hotel and hand them back to communities, and that is exactly what we are doing. Twenty more hotels have closed, and hotel numbers have more than halved since their peak. Instead, we’re moving asylum seekers into ex-military sites that are a far cry from the hotels the last Government left us with. This is a system being brought back under control – and we will not stop until the job is done.”
