10 Jan 2026, 00:46 Updated: 1h ago
The Home Office will aim to to remove accommodation and weekly allowances from some migrants by April
10 Jan 2026, 00:46 | Updated: 1h ago
Shabana Mahmood is set to start evicting asylum seekers from hotels by the Spring.
Picture:
Alamy
Evictions of asylum seekers living in migrant hotels are set to be ramped up with the Government cutting back their support.
The Home Secretary will end the Government’s duty to support all destitute asylum seekers as she seeks to shut more asylum hotels.
Ms Mahmood will target those who can support themselves financially but choose not to, along with those who have a right to work, who break the law or work illegally, and those who refuse an order to leave the UK.
This is expected to allow her to remove support from thousands of the 111,651 asylum seekers receiving payments or accommodation from the Government, as first reported by the i Paper.
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George cross flags are seen sprayed on The Bell Hotel sinage in Epping, in protest over the premises being used to house asylum seekers.
Picture:
Alamy
Ministers hope the move will help to speed up the closures of the hotels his year, with Ms Mahmood looking at further shutdowns by April.
As of the end of September, there were around 36,000 housed in hotels, with the Home Office saying fewer than 200 hotels are now in use.
Syrian Asylum seekers could also face removal to their home country, after the Government deemed it safer after the fall of the Assad regime at the end of 2024.
A Labour source said: “The Home Secretary is a woman in a hurry. She is working tirelessly to introduce these reforms to restore order and control to our borders.”
Just over 41,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025, the second-highest annual total on record but still lower than the peak year of 2022 when there were 45,774 crossings.
So far in 2026, some 32 people have made the crossing, arriving in a single boat on January 5.