A council has been allowed to halt plans to buy new housing for asylum seekers after the Home Office decided it had reached “sufficient capacity”. The government said that Sunderland had successfully met its targets, therefore the purchase of more dispersed accommodation for migrants – longer-term, temporary housing managed by accommodation providers on behalf of the Home Office – had been put on hold.
Leader of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Michael Mordey, has now confirmed the pause on buying new properties for asylum seekers. Those being housed in dispersed accommodation are able to stay there until their asylum claim has been fully determined. The Labour Councillor said that it was important that “other places take their responsibility to support vulnerable people just as seriously as we do”, the BBC reports.
As of the end of March, 830 asylum seekers were living in dispersed accommodation in Sunderland, according to the latest Home Office figures.
For every 10,000 people living in the city, there were 30 asylum seekers, population data from 2022 shows.
In the 2023-2024 year, asylum support cost Britain £4.7billion, of which £3.1billion went towards accommodation. The cost to house each asylum seeker has reportedly risen from £17,000 in 2020 to £41,000 yearly.
Earlier this year, the Home Office allowed for Country Durham to pause purchasing any further accommodation for asylum seekers as it had also reached “sufficient capacity”.
Due to a policy change allowing for asylum seekers to be distributed more evenly across the country, County Durham’s figures increased greatly.
Government figures show just five asylum seekers being housed in the area between 2020 and 2023. In the two years to March 2025, this number dramatically increased to 448.
“If you consider County Durham, our council tax base is low and we have some of the lowest council tax banding in the country and we are viewed by Westminster as appropriate for people who have absolutely no intention to work or contribute to the country, who don’t share our views, values and culture, and we have to take them,” Reform UK Councillor Darren Grimes said last month.
