UK Faces Prolonged Use of Hotels for Migrants Amid Rising Costs and Calls for Reform

[Social Media]

 

 

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Migrants seeking asylum in the UK will continue to be housed in hotels and other temporary accommodations for years, according to the Treasury, which has acknowledged the ongoing demand for such facilities. As the cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels reaches £5.5 million per day, the Home Office has been instructed to find more affordable solutions and prevent private companies from "profiteering" off the crisis caused by small boat crossings.

 

A Treasury audit aimed at securing £4 billion in annual savings has focused on the Home Office’s expenditure on migrant hotels. A document from the Treasury’s Office for Value for Money (OVfM) noted that “global instability” would sustain the flow of illegal migrants to the UK, meaning temporary accommodation would remain necessary. The report also highlighted broader pressures on the housing market but pointed to the government’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes in England by 2029 as a measure that could eventually reduce reliance on hotels.

 

The document further stated that companies contracted to secure hotel accommodation for asylum seekers had “made record profits in recent years, leading to accusations of profiteering.” Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research revealed that the annual cost of accommodating each asylum seeker had surged from £17,000 in 2020 to £41,000 in 2024.

 

 

Currently, more than 38,000 migrants reside in hotels at the Home Office’s expense, while an additional 65,707 are in dispersal accommodation, which consists of bedsits, flats, and large houses across various local authorities. A report from the National Audit Office found that placing a migrant in a hotel costs £145 per night, whereas dispersal accommodation costs just £14 per night.

 

Despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pre-election pledge to “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds,” the number of asylum seekers in hotel accommodations has increased by 8,000 since his campaign promise in June last year. The OVfM has emphasized that short-term accommodation negatively affects children and families, and its audit will explore ways for the Home Office to establish a more stable and cost-effective housing strategy.

 

In 2019, the Home Office entered into ten-year contracts worth approximately £4.6 billion with three private companies—Serco, Clearsprings Ready Homes, and Mears—to secure accommodation for asylum seekers. While a break clause exists that allows the government to renegotiate or terminate these contracts, officials have indicated that there are no immediate plans to trigger such actions. These firms have seen soaring profits due to the increasing demand for their services. Although their profits are capped at around £12 per accommodated person, the continued rise in small boat crossings has significantly benefited them.

 

Clearsprings subcontracts much of its work to Stay Belvedere Hotels (SBHL), which provides accommodation for migrants, primarily in London and southern England. The company’s latest financial statements reveal record profits exceeding £50 million. Meanwhile, Serco reported a 5 percent increase in profits, reaching £249 million in 2023, while Mears’ profits exceeded £50 million, reflecting a 25 percent increase from the previous year.

 

A government source accused these companies of exploiting the crisis for financial gain, stating, “Following the Covid pandemic, the last government bolted on hotel supply to the old contracts — which were not designed for this purpose, and which have allowed the three major providers to rack up massive profits working within contracts not designed to manage that level of spend.” The source also indicated that long-term plans were being considered to replace existing contracts with new arrangements focused on cost control and performance management.

 

Serco and Mears have defended their financial results, arguing that their profits stem from overall company performance rather than exclusively from Home Office contracts. Clearsprings did not respond to requests for comment, while SBHL declined to comment.

 

Beyond these main contractors, middlemen who facilitate booking and management services for asylum hotels have also profited from the crisis. A Sunday Times investigation found that many of these companies have expanded rapidly without adequate oversight, capitalizing on the increasing demand for asylum accommodations.

 

Mears commented, “The provision of asylum accommodation and support is one part of our activities and our publicly declared profits relate to performance across the group. Profits on the provision of the asylum accommodation and support contracts are capped and open book arrangements exist with the Home Office.”

 

A government spokesperson emphasized the administration’s commitment to ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers, stating, “The cost to the taxpayer for short-term residential accommodation has skyrocketed, after the government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with thousands stuck in a backlog without their claims processed.

 

We are absolutely committed to ending the use of hotels, and since coming into government have taken immediate action to restart asylum processing to begin closing hotels, have surged the number of returns, removing more than 19,000 people with no right to be in the UK, and established the Border Security Command to dismantle the gangs driving this trade.”

 

The OVfM will continue working with government departments, local authorities, and the private sector to implement a more strategic and cost-effective approach to asylum housing.

 

Based on a report by The Times  2025-03-25

 

 

[wombat]

The islamic invasion continues 

[JonnyF]

They've already raided the pensioners and the disabled.

 

Surely they can remove much needed benefits from some more indigenous Brits to pay for all this?

 

Maybe they can have a 2 tier NHS where access to treatment is based on race? Like the sentencing guidelines? That could raise some money... 

[Hatari fan]

Another of Starmer's promises bites the dust.

 

[shackleton]

I am surprised the British public is putting up with this expenditure 

Especially the state of the economy 

Labour don't care about the man in the street

Until people take to the streets to protest things will not change 

[klauskunkel]

1 hour ago, Social Media said:

the cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels reaches £5.5 million per day

that's probably the room service bill alone

[JonnyF]

9 minutes ago, shackleton said:

I am surprised the British public is putting up with this expenditure 

Especially the state of the economy 

Labour don't care about the man in the street

Until people take to the streets to protest things will not change 

 

Protesting against this (even in the form of a social media post) can lead to lengthy jail sentences. Especially if you are indigenous to Britain. In fact race is specifically mentioned in the new 2 tier sentencing guidelines. 

 

Starmer's boot of authoritarianism makes protest very difficult. He'll label you a far right thug, call you a criminal before  your trial and then rush you through the court system and into a jail cell within a week.

 

 

[The Old Bull]

7 minutes ago, shackleton said:

I am surprised the British public is putting up with this expenditure 

Especially the state of the economy 

Labour don't care about the man in the street

Until people take to the streets to protest things will not change 

 

8 minutes ago, shackleton said:

I am surprised the British public is putting up with this expenditure 

Especially the state of the economy 

Labour don't care about the man in the street

Until people take to the streets to protest things will not change 

The public is against this nonsense but politicians of all stripes are in favor so it doesn't matter who you vote for. In Canada the Torries brought in the Somali taxi drivers , the Liberals brought in the Syrians , most of whom returned when they couldn't trade their 13 year old daughters for goats. Now Ukrainians are flavor of the month. Also anyone from a French speaking nation is welcome to enter through Quebec before they scarper to the west.

[jippytum]

The hotel owners are making a fortune. 

Illegal muslim immigrants are living in luxury and Starmer cuts benifits to disabled pensioners to help pay for UK's open door policy. 

There are now more Muslim illegal immigants in the UK than we have soldiers in the British Army. 

This injustice has to stop. 

[Colki]

In previous article it stated 5271 asylum seekers so far in '25 above it states cost in '24 for each asylum seeker is 41,000 pounds. So far and counting for this years numbers so far 216,111,000 pounds. Great business

[digger70]

UK Faces Prolonged Use of Hotels for Migrants Amid Rising Costs and Calls for Reform.

 

The reform is  :  use the peoples tax  money for UK people and send All the Migrants/asylum seekers back to where they come from if they Not Legally Registered.

 

[Thingamabob]

Immigration control in the UK is virtually non-existent. The country as once was is now being obliterated.

[youreavinalaff]

11 hours ago, jippytum said:

The hotel owners are making a fortune. 

Illegal muslim immigrants are living in luxury and Starmer cuts benifits to disabled pensioners to help pay for UK's open door policy. 

There are now more Muslim illegal immigants in the UK than we have soldiers in the British Army. 

This injustice has to stop. 

It's asylum seekers in hotels. Not illegal immigrants, regardless of religion.

 

There are less than men serving in the military.

[johng]

1 minute ago, youreavinalaff said:

It's asylum seekers in hotels. Not illegal immigrants

 

Asylum seekers should claim asylum in the first safe country they get to

not cross half a continent and then take a dangerous cross channel rubber dinghy to England..by definition they are illegal.

[youreavinalaff]

4 minutes ago, johng said:

 

Asylum seekers should claim asylum in the first safe country they get to

not cross half a continent and then take a dangerous cross channel rubber dinghy to England..by definition they are illegal.

By definition, they are not.

 

That's wrong, I agree, but they are not illegal if they are deemed to have grounds for asylum. Regardless of their travels.

 

Unfortunately, the British government are tied by international law. 

 

The Rwanda scheme seemed to stem arrivals. Sadly, the new government scrapped the scheme before putting a new one in place.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, Social Media said:

A document from the Treasury’s Office for Value for Money (OVfM) noted that “global instability” would sustain the flow of illegal migrants to the UK, meaning temporary accommodation would remain necessary.

BS. Deport anyone arriving illegally and the problem goes away.

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, Colki said:

In previous article it stated 5271 asylum seekers so far in '25 above it states cost in '24 for each asylum seeker is 41,000 pounds. So far and counting for this years numbers so far 216,111,000 pounds. Great business

British taxpayers can take heart that they are supporting the poor from all over the planet. Their reward will be in heaven.