Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many houses in multiple occupation are currently being funded by the Home Office to house migrants, broken down by local authority area.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not publish detailed information on the location of asylum accommodation sites for safety and security reasons. Data, published quarterly, on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation can be found within the Asy_D11 tab of our most recent statistics release. The data can broken down by local authority rather than by constituency.
Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK
The Home Office, and its accommodation providers, take into account a range of issues when considering the suitability for dispersed accommodation. Local authorities are consulted on bedspaces before they are procured.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 3 September (HL10232), how many asylum seekers are currently placed in (1) hotels, (2) houses of multiple occupation, and (3) other locations and facilities in England, broken down by local council.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in contingency and dispersed accommodation, including houses of multiple occupation, across England as at 30 June 2025.
The below figures are broken down by region. The data is available on GOV.UK under Immigration statistics and can be further broken down by local authority.
Region | Hotels | Dispersed Accommodation | Other |
East Midlands | 1,755 | 5,142 | 348 |
East of England | 2,757 | 2,527 | 1,556 |
London | 10,081 | 4,350 | 2,730 |
North East | 309 | 6,891 | 96 |
North West | 3,686 | 16,820 | 690 |
South East | 3,402 | 3,122 | 449 |
South West | 2,132 | 2,262 | 126 |
West Midlands | 3,913 | 8,930 | 427 |
Yorkshire and Humber | 2,129 | 6,956 | 601 |
This Government is delivering on its pledge to close asylum hotels; drastically reducing taxpayer costs and giving control back to local communities. This Government is committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of the Parliament.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the repurposing of hotels as asylum accommodation on the number of jobs in the accommodation sector in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a legal obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and subsistence support whilst their application for asylum is being considered. The Home Office is committed to ensuring that destitute asylum seekers are housed in safe, secure and suitable accommodation, and that they are treated with dignity while their asylum claim is considered.
There is no obligation for hotels to contract with Home Office accommodation providers. This Government is delivering on its pledge to close asylum hotels; drastically reducing taxpayer costs and giving control back to local communities.
From over 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023, costing almost £9 million a day, there are now less than 210, and we want them all closed by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the National Crime Agency about alleged criminal activity by asylum seekers processed through RAF Manston.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
When an individual claims asylum, the Home Office will conduct mandatory identity, criminality and security checks. Biographic and biometric data are checked against relevant Home Office systems and police criminality databases including domestic and international data.
No one in the UK, including foreign nationals, asylum seekers or refugees, is above the law. Asylum seekers are clearly advised of the expectations the Home Office and accommodation providers have for them to behave responsibly while they are accommodated in Home Office properties and not to engage in any form of criminal or anti-social activity.
Criminality in the UK would normally be an operational matter for local law enforcement. Police forces do work with a wide range of partner agencies including the National Crime Agency as appropriate to investigate and disrupt crime as or when it occurs so as to protect local communities from harm.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has issued guidance to local authorities on purchasing empty homes for the purpose of housing asylum seekers.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department has not issued any guidance at this stage to local authorities on purchasing empty homes for the purpose of housing asylum seekers.
We continue to work closely with the Home Office and local authorities to develop a more sustainable model of asylum accommodation supply which will ensure basic accommodation is made available for asylum seekers on a temporary basis.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether barracks sites used to house people seeking asylum will be run by private contractors.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
We have committed to close all asylum hotels and to achieve this, we will look at a range of more appropriate sites like disused accommodation, industrial and ex-military sites so that we can reduce the impact on communities.
We are working closely with local authorities, property partners and across-government so that we can accelerate delivery and more detail will be set out in due course. This will include available routes to market for Onsite Support Services.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many asylum seekers are currently placed in (1) hotels, (2) houses of multiple occupation, and (3) other locations and facilities in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in contingency and dispersed accommodation, including houses of multiple occupation, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. To the year ending 30 June 2025, these figures are as follows:
Country | Hotels | Dispersed Accommodation | Other |
England | 30,164 | 57,000 | 4,120 |
Scotland | 1,573 | 3,978 | 332 |
Wales | 76 | 3,028 | 76 |
Northern Ireland | 246 | 2,228 | 45 |
This Government is delivering on its pledge to close asylum hotels; drastically reducing taxpayer costs and giving control back to local communities. This Government is committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of the Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timetable to relocate all asylum seekers from hotels so that hotels no longer need to be used for that purpose.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in contingency and dispersed accommodation, including houses of multiple occupation, across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. To the year ending 30 June 2025, these figures are as follows:
Country | Hotels | Dispersed Accommodation | Other |
England | 30,164 | 57,000 | 4,120 |
Scotland | 1,573 | 3,978 | 332 |
Wales | 76 | 3,028 | 76 |
Northern Ireland | 246 | 2,228 | 45 |
This Government is delivering on its pledge to close asylum hotels; drastically reducing taxpayer costs and giving control back to local communities. This Government is committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of the Parliament.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to use recently closed independent schools as alternative accommodation for illegal immigrants.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
No, there are no current plans. Home Office officials work in collaboration with other government departments on a future strategy for asylum accommodation, aiming to develop a better, long-term model of accommodation supply, which may be more locally led, should reduce competition for affordable housing, and help deliver new supply. Greater emphasis is being placed on engagement and collaboration with local authorities, and a variety of options are being tested. Value for money, community cohesion and the wellbeing of asylum seekers will continue to be at the forefront of decision making as officials continue to explore options and develop this strategy.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the use of a hotel as asylum hostel accommodation constitutes a material change of use.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Whether or not use of a hotel to accommodate asylum seekers would constitute a material change of use requiring planning permission will be a matter of fact and degree for the local planning authority to determine in the first instance, depending on the individual circumstances of each case.