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More than 36,000 asylum seekers were being housed in Home Office hotels in September, a rise of two per cent year-on-year despite a pledge by Labour to curb their use, new data shows.
Data published by the Home Office on Thursday showed there were 36,273 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels by the end of September. Three months earlier, the figure was 32,041, demonstrating a 13 per cent rise since June. The latest figure is also up on the same point in September 2024, when there were 35,628 asylum seekers in hotels.
The number of asylum seekers in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023 under the Conservatives but fell to 29,561 at the end of June 2024.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood recently announced sweeping reforms to the asylum system, which would see refugees having their sanctuary grants reviewed every 30 months. Charity Refugee Council warned on Thursday that the changes would place even greater strain on the overstretched system.
In the year up to September, 51,000 people arrived by irregular routes, such as small boats or lorries. 89 per cent of these were small boat arrivals, with around 46,000 people making the perilous journey across the Channel – up 53 per cent on the previous year.
There was also a record number of asylum claims in the past year, with 110,000 people claiming sanctuary. This is higher than the previous recorded peak of 103,000 in 2002.
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A view of small boats and outboard motors used by people thought to be migrants to cross the Channel from France at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent. Small boat arrivals are up 53 per cent year on year. (PA)
The total number of people in receipt of asylum support from the government is also up two per cent year-on-year, with 111,651 individuals getting help at the end of September.
Immigration of asylum seekers to the UK made up 11 per cent of all immigration in the year ending June 2025, according to analysis by the Migration Observatory, double the five per cent share in 2019.
Experts at the Observatory said that, while the Home Office has managed to reduced the backlog of asylum seekers waiting on a decision, this has resulted in a new backlog of appeals.
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Police form a barrier in front of masked protesters outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, which houses asylum seekers, in Summer 2025. The number of people housed in asylum hotels is on the rise. (PA)
With people waiting in the appeals system, Labour have been making slow progress on their pledge to end the use of asylum hotels.
Dr Peter Walsh, senior research at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: “While the government has managed to reduce the main asylum backlog significantly, today’s data shows just how hard it is to relieve pressure on the asylum system when applications remain high, and the appeals backlog continues to grow.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Thousands of families and individuals are still waiting months or even years for a decision – unable to rebuild their lives, find work or education, or give their children the stability they so desperately need.
“Instead of bringing certainty, the government’s new plans risk pushing people into a whole new backlog. Layering review after review will create further chaos: more bureaucracy, more delays and more families trapped in limbo for years to come”.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are furious at the levels of illegal migrants and asylum hotels. There are now fewer than 200 in use and we will close every single one. Work is well underway to move illegal migrants into military bases to ease pressure on communities across the country.”