Eleven asylum hotels have been closed and given back to
local communities, with multiple more set to close in the coming
weeks, as the government ramps up action to end the use of
hotels for illegal migrants.
The closures form part of the government's efforts to
fix the broken asylum system – tackling the immediate pressure of
hotel use while driving longer‑term reform through faster asylum
decisions, higher removals, and tougher enforcement.
Together, these reforms show the government delivering
long-term change in line with the public's
priorities.
This latest round of closures alone will save the
taxpayer nearly £65 million a year, and since this
government took office overall asylum costs have already fallen
by nearly £1 billion.
The following hotels have now closed, with more to follow
soon:
-
Banbury House Hotel – Banbury,
Oxfordshire
-
Marine Court Hotel – Bangor, Ards and North
Down
-
15 Citrus Hotel – Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire
-
Holiday Inn Heathrow – Hillingdon,
London
-
Britannia Hotel – Wolverhampton
-
Madeley Court Hotel – Madeley, Telford &
Wrekin
-
OYO Lakeside – St Helens, Merseyside
-
Crewe Arms Hotel – Crewe, Cheshire
East
-
Sure Hotel by Best Western –
Aberdeen
-
The Rock Hotel – Halifax, Calderdale
-
Wool Merchant Hotel – Halifax,
Calderdale
These closures are being driven by sweeping reforms introduced by
the Home Secretary – increasing removals of people with no right
to remain while moving those in the system out of expensive
hotels and into larger, more basic accommodation.
Nearly 60,000 illegal migrants and foreign national
offenders have been removed since the 2024 election, with last
year seeing the highest removal rates in almost
a decade.
At the same time, the government is scaling up the use
of large, basic accommodation sites to move people out of hotels
for good.
The government has now moved up to
350 illegal migrants to the Crowborough military
barracks, which opened only 3 months ago. The use of
basic accommodation will be scaled up as hotels
close.
Those who are housed and have their asylum claims rejected will
be removed from the UK.
Border Security and Asylum Minister said:
Hotels were meant to be a short‑term stop‑gap under
the previous government, but they spiralled out of
control – costing taxpayers billions and dumping the consequences
on local communities.
We are shutting them down by moving people into more basic
accommodation, scaling up large sites, removing record numbers of
people with no right to remain.
This is about restoring control, ending waste, and handing hotels
back to the community for good.
Under the last government, asylum decision‑making ground to a
halt, hotel use spiralled to around 400 sites, and the asylum
backlog ballooned – driving hotel costs to £9 million a day at
its peak while communities were left to cope with the
consequences.
That number has now more than halved to just under 190, with the
number of people housed in hotels down nearly 20% in the
past year and 45% lower than the peak.
The Home Office are also driving down costs across the wider
asylum system. For example, last week it was announced that
in‑donor refugee spending within the UK's Overseas Development
Aid budget has been cut by £432 million, the lowest level since
2021.
As part of this broader crackdown on waste, over £74 million has
already been recouped from poorly run asylum accommodation
contracts, delivering better value for the taxpayer.
The government is also removing accommodation from people who can
afford to support themselves and from those who break the rules,
making clear that public support is for those who genuinely need
it.
Action at home is being matched by stronger cooperation overseas.
Through closer working with France, over 42,000 small boat
crossings attempts have already been prevented since
the election. This comes as new agreements have been struck with
Germany, Iraq and Western Balkan countries to tackle
migration at every step.
Meanwhile, asylum decision‑making is now at a 24‑year
high after collapsing by 70% under
the previous government. Decisions are now
outpacing new claims, and people are moving through the system
faster – out of hotels and, where they have no right to remain,
out of the UK.
Net migration is also at its lowest level in half a decade and
has fallen by more than two-thirds under this government, as the
Home Secretary has set out fundamental reform to ensure those who
come here put in more than they take out.
But ministers are clear they will not stop until every asylum
hotel is permanently closed and returned to local communities.
