Full list: UK shuts 13 more asylum hotels
The UK government has announced the closure of 13 more hotels being used to accommodate asylum seekers, as part of its wider plan to end the use of hotels for asylum accommodation.
The latest closures mean hotels in several parts of England can return to normal commercial use or be repurposed to serve local communities.
The government said the move would allow the hotels to once again accommodate paying visitors, support local jobs and boost businesses such as restaurants, cafés, shops and tourist attractions.
The closures are part of a broader government effort to reduce pressure on the UK’s asylum system, cut the cost of taxpayer-funded accommodation and accelerate the processing and removal of people who have no legal right to remain in the country.
How many asylum hotels are closing?
The latest announcement covers 13 hotels across England.
It follows the closure of 11 asylum hotels in April and another 20 in June.
As a result, the government said fewer than 160 asylum hotels now remain in use across the UK.
The 13 latest closures are expected to save taxpayers £51 million, taking the total expected savings from asylum hotel closures this year to £224 million.
The government also said asylum accommodation costs have fallen by almost £1 billion since the 2024 general election.
Why did the UK use hotels for asylum seekers?
The large-scale use of hotels expanded as the UK faced a major increase in asylum applications and a backlog of cases.
At the peak of the programme in 2023, around 400 hotels were being used to accommodate asylum seekers.
The government said the hotel system was costing taxpayers approximately £9 million every day.
Hotels were used to provide temporary accommodation while asylum claims were processed, but the arrangement attracted criticism from communities and politicians over its cost and the impact on local areas.
The current government has therefore made reducing the use of hotels a central part of its immigration policy.
Where will asylum seekers be housed instead?
Rather than relying on hotels, the government says it is increasing the use of larger, basic accommodation, including former military sites.
The Home Office has recently begun discussions over three former Ministry of Defence sites that could eventually accommodate about 3,750 asylum seekers.
They are:
- MOD Bicester – planning permission is currently being sought.
- MOD Barnham – planning permission is also being sought.
- MOD Linton-on-Ouse – discussions are underway over its potential use.
The government is also seeking to extend the use of existing military sites, including Crowborough until 2030 and Wethersfield beyond 2027.
Government promises faster asylum decisions
The closure of hotels comes alongside measures intended to speed up asylum and immigration decisions.
The government said that since July 2024, record numbers of asylum decisions have been made, while nearly 70,000 migrants have been removed.
It also plans to introduce the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is intended to make it easier and faster to remove people who are in the UK illegally.
Another major change is a new 24-week target for deciding asylum and immigration appeals for people in accommodation and foreign national offenders.
The government said the target would reduce the current average waiting time of 67 weeks, allowing cases to be resolved more quickly and reducing the amount of time people spend in taxpayer-funded accommodation.
What the government said
Immigration Minister Anna Turley said communities had for too long seen hotels in their towns become associated with the asylum system.
“For too long, communities have watched hotels at the centre of their towns and cities become symbols of a broken asylum system.
“We are turning that around by ending the use of asylum hotels for good and moving people into larger, basic accommodation like former military sites.
“This government’s reforms are overhauling the immigration system to restore control at the border, and fairness to our immigration system.”
Full list of 13 asylum hotels closed
The hotels announced as closed are:
- Ramada Jarvis Hotel, Loughborough
- Chimney House Hotel, Sandbach
- Britannia Ashley Hotel, Hale
- Gold Thorn Hotel, Wolverhampton
- Grand Metropole Hotel, Blackpool
- Nottingham Hotel, Nottingham
- Grosvenor Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon
- Staycity Apartments Deptford Bridge, Lewisham
- Needham House, Hitchin
- Holiday Inn, Bridgwater
- Holiday Inn Express, Dunstable
- Dubrovnik Hotel, Bradford
- Best Western Brook Hotel, Norwich
The government says more asylum hotels are expected to close as it shifts towards alternative accommodation and continues efforts to reduce the backlog of asylum cases.
The move is also intended to lower the cost of the UK’s asylum system while reducing the disruption associated with using hotels in communities across the country.