Overview

• Four three-bedroom townhouses in Mellis, Suffolk, have been leased to Serco on behalf of the Home Office to accommodate asylum seekers, with at least one family already moved in.
• The properties, marketed with en-suites, underfloor heating and EV chargers, were previously unsold and discounted from around £350,000 to about £270,000, with local rents cited near £1,200 a month.
• Residents say they were not consulted and question fairness given local housing pressures, while a councillor described a later “consensus” and Serco said placements followed postcode agreements with the local authority.
• The Home Office says it is cutting reliance on hotels that once numbered about 400 at a cost near £9 million a day, citing faster decisions and lower hotel spending, as ministers aim to end hotel use by 2029.
• The case drew national attention alongside legal fights over hotel placements, including a court decision allowing continued use of the Bell Hotel in Epping, and public commentary such as Elon Musk’s criticism.