A council leader has voiced her opposition to migrant hotels, insisting such accommodation has to be on her city’s own terms. As with local authorities across the country, Newcastle City Council has no control over where asylum seekers are housed.
Karen Kilgour told the local democracy reporting service: “I strongly oppose asylum seeker hotels in Newcastle, but I want the council to have a role – it must be on Newcastle’s terms.” Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged at her spending review to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029.
The National Audit Office recently revealed the cost of asylum accommodation is expected to be more than three times higher than previously estimated at £15.3 billion over 10 years.
Hotel accommodation accounted for 76% of the annual cost of contracts – £1.3bn of an estimated £1.7bn in 2024-25.
Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle told MPs the department is piloting different ways to provide asylum accommodation ahead of break clauses for major contracts coming up next year.
Pilots include working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and local authorities on providing accommodation.
Old tower blocks and student digs are among the ideas put forward as alternatives.
Ms Kilgour told the BBC the system needs to be reformed, adding: “Let’s stop funding private hotels and look at a housing strategy that delivers more affordable and social housing options.”
A 2023 inquiry claimed refugees were left “isolated and vulnerable” inside hotels in the city. But Ms Kilgour said she wants Newcastle to set an example, creating a safer and more supportive place for asylum seekers.
She said: “It’s certainly not about leaving the door open for anyone and everyone. It’s about doing what’s right for those genuinely seeking the help and new start they need.”
An Express investigation found asylum seekers living in a migrant hotel in London working illegally.
The Daily Express saw at least 10 different men leaving the migrant hotel over two nights before doing delivery work.
Asylum seekers aren’t permitted to work in the UK for at least a year when waiting for their claims to be processed. Even those given permits cannot work as delivery drivers under Home Office rules.
Figures show 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March, down 15% from the end of December, when the total was 38,079. That is also 6% lower than the 34,530 at the same point a year earlier.
