UK Closes 13 More Asylum Hotels
The UK government is closing 13 more asylum hotels, with the move expected to cut costs and return properties to local communities.
The latest closures will allow hotels across England to return to normal commercial use or be repurposed for local communities. The government said the move could support paying visitors, local jobs, restaurants, cafés, shops and tourist attractions.
The closures form part of a wider effort to reduce pressure on the UK asylum system, lower taxpayer-funded accommodation costs and speed up asylum decisions and removals for people without a legal right to remain.
The latest announcement follows the closure of 11 hotels in April and another 20 in June. Fewer than 160 asylum hotels now remain in use across the UK. The 13 latest closures are expected to save £51 million, taking projected savings from hotel closures this year to £224 million.
At the peak of the programme in 2023, around 400 hotels housed asylum seekers. The government said the system cost taxpayers about £9 million each day.
Instead, the government plans to increase the use of larger, basic accommodation, including former military sites. Discussions are under way over MOD Bicester, MOD Barnham and MOD Linton-on-Ouse, which could eventually accommodate about 3,750 asylum seekers.
The 13 closed asylum hotels 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 said record numbers of asylum decisions have been made since July 2024, while nearly 70,000 migrants have been removed. It also plans an Immigration and Asylum Bill and a new 24-week target for certain appeals, compared with the current average of 67 weeks.
Immigration Minister Anna Turley said:
“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.”
Do you think closing these asylum hotels and moving people into alternative accommodation will improve the UK’s asylum system?
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