Shocking new research has suggested the annual bill paid by the UK to keep migrants in hotels is equivalent to the taxes forked out by 582,000 workers. Latest official figures show there were 32,345 asylum seekers staying in up to 220 hotels across the UK.
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. Now, an ex-Office for National Statistics analyst has looked into these figures and calculated that since each worker pays income tax and National Insurance contributions amounting to £8,081, it takes the taxes paid for by the workers living in a city as big as Manchester to cover for this cost.
Jamie Jenkins, the person behind the research, told The Sun: “This isn’t just unsustainable. It’s outrageous. A government that borrows billions each year, can’t control borders, and taxes its citizens to pay for hotel rooms and housing for people who’ve just arrived is not working for the British public.”
The analysts argued the cost is higher than the tax contribution of every UK mechanic and HGV driver combined across the UK.
The asylum support costs rose last year from the £3.6billion figure recorded in 2022-2023.
This comes after nearly 37,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in 2024. Since the beginning of the year, almost 15,000 people have made the dangerous trip aboard unstable dinghies.
This marks a 42% rise compared to figures from last year. The highest figures were recorded in 2022, when 45,755 people reached the UK’s shores.
The highest daily total of arrivals since data began in 2018 was 1,305, which was recorded on September 3, 2022.