A boutique hotel owner has rejected a £3 million, seven-year contract to house migrants, saying it would “harm the village.” Samuel Leeds was offered what he described as an “attractive” deal for the historic Willingham House in Willingham, Cambridgeshire, but refused to be part of the “arrogant” government’s asylum system. The 34-year-old bought the hotel in March 2023 and quickly began renovations. As the refurbishment neared completion, he was approached in June this year by a company he had previously worked with.
“He wanted to make me an offer to rent the whole building,” Mr Leeds told the Express. The company owner told him, “The council is going to pay me, and then I can pay you, but I’ll pay you guaranteed rent.” After a verbal agreement, the company sent over a pre-lease agreement offering £35,000 a month (£420,000 a year) for six years and 11 months – despite the Government’s pledge to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029.
“They clearly have no intention of changing the system, or they are arrogant enough to believe they are going to be in power again,” Mr Leeds said of the lengthy contract.
The deal also included an FRI (full repairing and insuring) lease, meaning the company would cover all maintenance and repair costs.
However, when Leeds read through the contract, he noticed that it would be housing “vulnerable people”.
“I thought, I wonder who these people are… if I rent this out to the wrong types of people, it could end up harming the village,” he said.
“I was literally only told ‘vulnerable people’, and it was only when I pressed [the company owner] over the phone that he mentioned asylum seekers. If I had just signed the contract, I could have had a hotel filled with asylum seekers, and I hadn’t even authorised it.”
Mr Leeds said he “suspects there are a lot” of hotel owners who sign similar contracts without being told upfront that asylum seekers will be housed there.
“We’re in a recession at the moment, we’re in a cost of living crisis, and a lot of hotel owners are struggling, which is why I think they’re being bought out.”
However, for Mr Leeds, no amount of money is worth it.
“I put values and integrity over money. I felt in my conscience that it wasn’t a good idea,” he said.
“This is a beautiful boutique hotel – I actually think it’s nicer than my own home. It’s got three acres of land. It’s so quaint, and I just thought, how is the council going to allow this to be used?”
The hotel owner took control of Willingham House last year, paying just £1 for the right to buy it later. Under the deal, a group of Hong Kong investors has agreed to sell him the property for £2m within 10 years. In the meantime, Mr Leeds pays them a guaranteed monthly rent of £6,500.
Before becoming a hotel, the Victorian mansion served as the village rectory until the early 1950s and hosted a British Red Cross first aid post during the First World War.
“I think we should provide appropriate accommodation for asylum seekers,” Mr Leeds added, “and not put them in luxury hotels, bribe these hotel owners, and then damage the economy of these villages.
“I certainly am refusing to be part of it.”
The Express has contacted the Home Office for comment.