Overview

• The Home Office plans to allocate £2.2 billion of its overseas development assistance to asylum seeker accommodation in 2025-26, down marginally from £2.3 billion the previous year.
• As of the end of March, 32,345 asylum seekers remain housed in hotels, marking a 15 percent decrease since December but still accounting for 76 percent of total asylum accommodation costs.
• The National Audit Office reports that hotels consumed £1.3 billion of the £1.7 billion spent on asylum housing in 2024-25, underscoring the high financial burden of temporary lodgings.
• The government aims to save £4 billion by 2026 through accelerated asylum decisions and increased removals but has not committed to a firm deadline for ending hotel use.
• Development organisations warn that funding asylum accommodations with aid budgets undermines international poverty relief, while total housing contracts are forecast to cost £15.3 billion over the next decade.