Eleven asylum hotels have closed down already with more set to shut in just weeks as Labour scales up the use of large sites to house migrants.
The Home Office has announced 11 hotels which were previously housing asylum seekers have been handed “back to local communities” – as many of the asylum seekers are sent to locations like the Crowborough military barracks instead.
The site now houses 350 illegal migrants, marking a significant rise in the number of asylum seekers currently being housed there, as the figure previously stood at 27.
Locals have already voiced opposition to the mass introduction of asylum seekers into their local community, but lost a High Court challenge in February to prevent the move.
The latest move will spark fears many illegal migrants will be able to operate freely within a community dubbed “vulnerable” to the threats of unvetted men.
This is the latest development of the Government’s initiative to close all asylum hotels during this Parliament and feeds into the broader ambition to tackle illegal immigration in Britain.
The following hotels have now closed:
- 15 Citrus Hotel – Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
- Banbury House Hotel – Banbury, Oxfordshire
- Britannia Hotel – Wolverhampton
- Crewe Arms Hotel – Crewe, Cheshire East
- Holiday Inn Heathrow – Hillingdon, London
- Madeley Court Hotel – Madeley, Telford & Wrekin
- Marine Court Hotel – Bangor, Ards and North Down
- OYO Lakeside – St Helens, Merseyside
- Sure Hotel by Best Western – Aberdeen
- The Rock Hotel – Halifax, Calderdale
- Wool Merchant Hotel – Halifax, Calderdale
Alex Norris, Border Security and Asylum Minister said the use of hotels had “spiralled out of control”.
He said: “Hotels were meant to be a short‑term stop‑gap under the previous government, but they spiralled out of control – costing taxpayers billions and dumping the consequences on local communities.
“We are shutting them down by moving people into more basic accommodation, scaling up large sites, removing record numbers of people with no right to remain.
“This is about restoring control, ending waste, and handing hotels back to the community for good.”
The Bell Hotel in Epping was a focal point last summer as protests kicked-off after a man staying at the asylum hotel sexually assaulted a woman and a child
|
GETTY
Nearly 200 hotels across Britain house those claiming asylum, which is approximately 30,000 people.
A further 70,000 stay in other accommodation, such as shared residences and former military buildings.
The closures of these 11 hotels will save the taxpayer nearly £65million a year, according to the Home Office, with overall asylum costs cut by nearly £1billion.
This comes as the number of migrants temporarily housed in asylum hotels fell to its lowest level in 18 months.
The boarded up Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham which saw rioting outside the asylum hotel in the summer of 2024
|
GETTY
The number of asylum seekers housed in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023 under the then-Conservative government.
By the end of June 2024, just before the General Election, this figure had fallen to a record low of 29,561.
At the end of December 2025, there were 30,657 people staying in asylum hotels awaiting a decision on their claims.
This figure is 15 per cent lower than the previous quarter, when there were 36,273 people in asylum hotels at the end of September.
Many migrants have been funnelled to Crowborough instead
The Home Office said that instead of hotels, they are “scaling up the use of large, basic accommodation sites”, ensuring they “move people out of hotels for good”.
Robert Bates, Research Director at the Centre for Migration Control, indicated that this move is simply relocating illegal migrants, rather than tackling the problem at its root.
He told GB News: “The Government is not removing migrants but placing them in HMOs, old student accommodation blocks and whatever other sites it is able to get its hands on.
“This is wholly inappropriate, continues to leave communities vulnerable to the threats posed by unvetted men, and makes the likelihood of migrants simply absconding far higher.
“Rather than throwing billions at unscrupulous accommodation providers, this money should be spent on detention facilities and round-the-clock deportation flights.”
The Home Office said it has removed nearly 60,000 illegal migrants and foreign national offenders from the country since the 2024 election, with last year having the highest removal rate in almost 10 years.
The use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers has sparked a number of protests across the UK.
Anti-immigration demonstrators have gathered outside these sites – most notably in Rotherham in August 2024, when protesters attempted to set a hotel on fire whilst asylum seekers were inside.
The Bell Hotel in Epping also became a focal point last summer, with a string of protests happening outside the accommodation after an Ethiopian national who was staying there, Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, was charged and later convicted of sexual assault against a woman and a child.
The Home Office said that net migration is “at its lowest in half a decade”, falling by more than two-thirds under the current Government.
However, it said “ministers are clear they will not stop until every asylum hotel is permanently closed and returned to local communities”.