Angela Rayner pushes for huge change to migrant housing | Politics | News

Ministers have insisted the number of migrant hotels will fall despite fears asylum seekers could be housed in taxpayer funded rooms for another four years.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner wants local councils to take control of asylum accommodation as Labour tries to quell public anger over ballooning costs.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was left red-faced last year after the Home Office had to open more hotels because of the rising numbers of small boat arrivals.

But Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle on Monday insisted the number of hotels used to house asylum seekers will be lower by the end of March.

During Home Office questions, she told MPs: “The Government is committed to reducing hotel use through reform of the asylum system, including streamlining asylum processing and establishing the Border Security Command to tackle people-smuggling gangs at source.

“Since the general election there’s been a net increase of six hotels in use; however nine are scheduled for closure by the end of March.”

Conservative MP Sir Ashley Fox pressed the minister on when the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels will be lower than it was prior to the general election.

The MP for Bridgwater said: “The Government’s new policy of smashing the gangs has enabled them to close seven asylum hotels, but unfortunately they’ve had to open another 14. Could the minister tell us when the number of asylum seekers in hotel accommodation will be lower than when she took office?”

Dame Angela said the issue “can’t be solved overnight” because of the “size of the backlog we inherited from the party opposite”.

She added: “We are working very, very hard to close hotels.

“I just gave (Sir Ashley) the figures, it will be down. Nine more scheduled to close by the end of March, and there’s been a net increase of six, so by the end of March there will be fewer.”

A report by the IPPR think tank in October calculated that the cost of housing an asylum seeker in hotels is £145 per night, compared to just £14 for dispersal accommodation.

Home Office spending on asylum rose by £1.43billion, up 36% from £3.951billion in 2022/23 to £5.38billion in 2023/24.

This is more than four times the equivalent figure for 2020/21 (£1.34billion) and nearly 12 times the total a decade ago (£0.45billion).

The bill covers cash support and accommodation, plus wider staffing and related migration and border activity.

The figure does not include the cost of intercepting migrants in the Channel.

The number of migrants living in hotels has increased since Labour came to power with 29,585 staying in taxpayer-funded rooms as of June 30.This has risen to 35,651.

And 133,409 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application at the end of September 2024 – up 12% from 118,882 at the end of June, but down from 165,411 in September 2023.

Elsewhere in Home Office questions, Dame Angela said the Government’s decision to pause Syrian asylum claims was being kept under “very close observation”.

This came in response to Liberal Democrat home affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart, who said a constituent of hers and her three children, who were all from Syria, had been “living in limbo for nine months” in an asylum hotel while they waited for a decision on their asylum claims.

She added: “The cost of housing families in this way is too high, both to the mental well-being of those living there, and to the taxpayer.

“So will the minister let the House know what circumstances she is waiting for, for asylum applications from Syria to be resumed, and when she expects that to be?”

Dame Angela replied: “Until the future in Syria becomes a little more settled, it’s very difficult to try to decide those claims, which is why both this country and most of Europe have had a temporary pause while the situation in Syria settles and develops.

“So I can’t stand here and tell her exactly when, all I can say is we’re keeping it under very close observation and as soon as there is any development in this area we will make sure that the House knows.”

The admission, from Dame Angela, comes amid reports Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner wants local councils to take control of asylum accommodation.

Ms Rayner fears migrants could still be housed in hotels by the next General Election, creating a potentially toxic issue for the party.

The deputy prime minister wants the Home Office to terminate agreements with the three private companies that are making millions out of their taxpayer-funded contracts to provide asylum accommodation.

The Home Office is giving Serco, Clearsprings Ready Homes and Mears an estimated £4.6 billion. The contracts are not set to end until 2029.

But they are believed to have a break clause in 2026 which allows them to be terminated or renegotiated.

Rayner’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) sees the clause as an opportunity to stop housing migrants in hotels.

MHCLG officials have recommended handing control over asylum accommodation to local authorities and mayors, who they believe have better expertise on integration and where best to house migrants. It would also enable better co-ordination of the necessary public services needed to support migrants.