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The number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels has risen by 8 per cent under Labour compared to the same point last year, Home Office data shows.
However, figures from the last three months show that the figure has gone down very slightly from 32,345 in March this year, to 32,059 in June 2025.
With numbers falling in recent months, government spending on asylum in the UK also stood at £4.76 billion in 2024/25, down 12 per cent from a record £5.38 billion in 2023/24.
It comes as Labour-run councils are among those considering legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, as the government scrambles to draw up a contingency plan.
Carol Dean, leader of Labour-controlled Tamworth Council, said her authority had previously decided against legal action but was now “carefully assessing” what the decision might mean for the area, adding it was a “potentially important legal precedent”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Tory local councils to take inspiration from the Epping legal ruling to launch challenges of their own.
The opposition leader said Epping Forest District Council had achieved “a victory for local people”, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also called for his party’s councils to launch their own legal challenges.
‘Broken’ immgration system spilling over into tensions in NI, DUP minister says (adds par 6)
The UK’s “broken” immigration system is spilling over into tensions in communities in Northern Ireland, a Stormont minister has said.
Education Minister Paul Givan made the comments as unionist politicians have asked for further investigations into the legal planning status of hotels in the region housing asylum seekers.
Earlier this week Antrim and Newtownabbey Council said an enforcement investigation has begun into the legal planning status of the Chimney Corner Hotel in Co Antrim being used to house asylum seekers.
Unionist politicians have further raised concerns about the status of hotels within the Causeway Coast and Glens and Ards and North Down Borough Council areas.
DUP MLA Mr Givan said the UK Government had “failed Northern Ireland” over immigration.
He said: “The immigration system in the United Kingdom is broken, it has been a complete failure of the UK Government to protect the integrity of our borders.
“That is creating tensions within our communities. I think when people are in the country it is important that the rule of law is followed, we allow statutory authorities to deal with any issues.
“But when it comes to the actual immigration process, the UK Government is failing Northern Ireland, it is failing the United Kingdom as a whole. That does create tension, it creates pressures on our public services, within our housing system.”
Holly Evans21 August 2025 13:39
Watch: Chris Philp challenged over Tory response to legal action on asylum hotels
Chris Philp challenged over Tory response to legal action on asylum hotels
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has defended Kemi Badenoch’s call for Conservative councils to consider legal challenges against the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. In a letter to Tory councils, Mrs Badenoch said she was “encouraging” them to “take the same steps” as Epping Council, “if your legal advice supports it”. Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning (21 August), Mr Philp said councils didn’t need to take such action when the Conservatives were in power, as the party had been “getting hotel numbers down”. New Home Office data shows the number of asylum seekers in hotels has gone down from 32,345 in March this year to 32,059 in June 2025. Numbers peaked at the end of September 2023, when 56,042 asylum seekers were in hotels.
Holly Evans21 August 2025 13:15
‘Hypocritical’ Badenoch calls for Tory councils to launch legal challenges
Kemi Badenoch has been branded a “hypocrite” for calling for Conservative councils to challenge the use of so-called asylum hotels in their local areas.
The Tory leader said in a letter on Wednesday that she was “encouraging” councils to “take the same steps” as Epping Forest District Council “if your legal advice supports it”.
But the move has been criticised as “desperate and hypocritical nonsense”, given the Conservative’s own record with asylum hotels.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans21 August 2025 13:00
Housing migrants accounts for 76% of asylum budget
Specific costs for hotels have not been published but a report from public spending watchdog the National Audit Office earlier this year found that housing asylum seekers in hotels accounted for about 76 per cent of the annual costs for asylum accommodation and support contracts, amounting to £1.3 billion of an estimated £1.7 billion in 2024/25.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation, known as contingency accommodation, if they are awaiting assessment of their claim or have had a claim approved and there is not enough longer-term accommodation available.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office – which has a legal obligation to provide accommodation to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute – can move people to alternatives such as hotels and large sites, like former military bases.
Holly Evans21 August 2025 12:45
Explained: How much is the government paying to house asylum seekers in hotels?
Anti-immigration protests have surged in recent weeks, with some targeting hotels used to house asylum seekers, sparking violence and prompting multiple arrests.
Amid the demonstrations, misleading claims about the cost of accommodating migrants have been spreading widely online.
But what does it actually cost to house asylum seekers in hotels — and how are false figures shaping public anger?
Read the full explainer here:
Holly Evans21 August 2025 12:30
Lib Dems accuse Labour of ‘failing to get a grip on the crisis’
Responding to this morning’s immigration figures, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart MP said that the government needed to “speed up asylum processing to bring down the backlog and end hotel use once and for all”.
She added: “The Conservatives trashed our immigration system and let numbers spiral. Now this Labour government is failing to get a grip on the crisis”.
Holly Evans21 August 2025 12:16
Violence against women and girls ‘hijacked by anti-migrant agenda’
Amid hotel protests, campaigners including Rape Crisis and Refuge have warned conversations about violence against women and girls are being “hijacked by an anti-migrant agenda” which they argued fuels divisions and harms survivors.
More than 100 women’s organisations have written to ministers to say they “have been alarmed in recent weeks by an increase in unfounded claims made by people in power, and repeated in the media, that hold particular groups as primarily responsible for sexual violence”.
They added: “This not only undermines genuine concerns about women’s safety, but also reinforces the damaging myth that the greatest risk of gender-based violence comes from strangers.”
Holly Evans21 August 2025 11:55
Reducing backlog is ‘critical’ to reducing use of hotels, says expert
Dr Nuni Jorgensen, researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: “Reducing the backlog in processing asylum claims is critical to any plan to reduce the use of contingency accommodation like hotels.
“Although the initial decision backlog is down since Labour came to office, a new backlog has built up in the courts due to appeals against unsuccessful decisions.
“The Government will be hoping that its enforcement activities and the new returns agreement with France will reduce the number of people applying for asylum and requiring accommodation, but there is no sign of this in the data so far.”
There have been protests in recent weeks outside some hotels housing asylum seekers (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)
Holly Evans21 August 2025 11:44
Stevenage Borough Council ‘actively investigating’ operation of asylum hotels in their area
Stevenage Borough Council in Hertfordshire has said that it is studying the Epping hotel ruling “closely” to understand how it might impact asylum accommodation in their area.
A council spokesperson said: “The council takes breaches of planning control seriously and we’re actively investigating alleged breaches relating to the operation of hotels in Stevenage.
“We are studying the Epping and Somani Hotels Judgement closely to determine the implications this has for our own investigations.
“It is important that the council gathers all the facts before reaching any conclusion about the appropriate course of action it takes; this work is continuing at pace.”
Holly Bancroft21 August 2025 11:29
Politicians making mischief over asylum hotels are in for an unwelcome surprise
The Home Office was behind the curve on the legal action by Tory-led Epping Forest District Council, issuing a last-minute plea to no avail. There is gloom among ministers, who fear a dangerous precedent has been set; they are privately bemused that the ruling was based on the hotel owner’s failure to obtain a change of use permission under planning regulations. Ministers fear this will encourage more protests outside other asylum hotels, creating an opening for the far right.
The ruling shines an unwelcome spotlight on the small boats crisis. In fact, the government has had a reasonable run on this nightmarish issue in recent weeks, announcing a series of initiatives in the fallow summer period, including the potentially game-changing “one in, one out” returns agreement with France.
Read the full analysis from Andrew Grice here:
Holly Evans21 August 2025 11:12