Overview
- A senior South Kesteven official says about 70 private properties have been acquired across the district, with most conversions concentrated in Grantham to create houses in multiple occupation for people moved out of asylum hotels.
- Local leaders say they have secured a temporary pause on further purchases and the town’s MP reported ministers told contractor Serco to halt procurement of dispersed accommodation in Grantham.
- Councillors are set to vote on new planning controls that would force owners to get permission before converting family homes into small HMOs of up to six people.
- Home Office figures reported in local coverage show supported-asylum numbers in South Kesteven rose from 215 to 270 earlier this year and the council says expected placements of around 300 have already been exceeded, prompting resident complaints about overconcentration and loss of family homes.
- The episode sits inside the wider Home Office drive to close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament and move people into contractor-secured properties and larger former military sites, a shift that is likely to prompt further legal, planning and political challenges.