UK asylum hotel occupancy halves as Home Office shifts to private rentals

The number of asylum seekers housed in UK hotels has halved over the past year, according to Home Office figures released on 27 August. At the end of June 2026, 16,021 individuals were accommodated across 160 hotels, a significant decrease from 32,041 at the same point in 2025 and a peak of 56,018 recorded in September 2023.

This reduction aligns with a broader institutional shift towards privately rented houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). While total temporary accommodation remains high, with 69,038 people housed in various forms of contingency housing, the move away from hotels has resulted in an 8% fall in Home Office spending on asylum. The government is currently considering paying higher prices for private rental properties to distribute accommodation more evenly across the country.

Small boat crossings to the UK fell by 23% year on year, a trend Home Office officials attribute to increased trafficking arrests and interceptions by French police. This decline is linked to the "one in, one out" policy established by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which facilitates the deportation of some migrants in exchange for a safe legal route for others. However, the scheme has not been without controversy, as incidents of use of force against deportees reached a record 210, including 181 occasions where restraint equipment was used.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood stated that the figures demonstrate the government is "restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system." She noted that while the asylum backlog is down and illegal working arrests are at record levels, further enforcement is required to deter Channel crossings. "Small boats numbers are now falling but we are not complacent and there is more we must do," Mahmood said.

The data also highlights a surge in the number of businesses stripped of the right to sponsor migrant workers. Revocations of licences reached 4,403 in the 12 months to June 2026, up from 1,828 in 2025. The skilled worker visa scheme, introduced post-Brexit to address skills shortages in sectors such as care, has drawn criticism from unions and charities who argue it facilitates exploitation by tying migration status to specific employment.

Nuni Jorgensen of the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory suggested that the ability to close hotels was largely due to faster asylum decisions. However, she noted that an asylum appeals backlog has now emerged in the courts, indicating that the pace of processing may be shifting to a different part of the legal pipeline.