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Asylum Accommodation Providers Face £15.3 Billion Costs and Unpaid Profit Obligations

UK contractors propose 15,000 community-based beds to reduce hotel reliance as Channel crossings reach record levels.

The cost of asylum accommodation has soared as increasing numbers of migrants cross the Channel
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Overview

  • The National Audit Office confirmed that the ten-year asylum accommodation contracts, initially estimated at £4.5 billion, will now cost £15.3 billion due to increased hotel use driven by surging Channel crossings.
  • Clearsprings Ready Homes, Mears Group, and Serco collectively owe the Home Office over £45 million under profit-sharing clauses, but repayments are pending ongoing audits.
  • Clearsprings has proposed a plan to introduce 15,000 self-catered community-based beds, which could reduce the number of asylum seekers in hotels by 40%.
  • As of December 2024, over 109,000 asylum seekers were in taxpayer-funded accommodation, with 38,213 housed in hotels, costing the UK approximately £4.57 million per day in 2024-25.
  • Channel crossings have surged in 2025, with over 12,400 arrivals reported so far, a record for this time of year and nearly one-third higher than 2024 figures.