Number of asylum seekers living in hotels across UK halves in a year

Home Office was housing 16,021 asylum seekers across 160 hotels at end of June, while small boat crossings down 23% The number of asylum seekers living in hotels has halved in a year, Home Office figures show. Sweeping changes to the asylum system have also led to a significant drop in legal arrivals and asylum claims, but the numbers of asylum seekers housed in private accommodation has increased as the government moves people from hotels into privately rented houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). There were 16,021 asylum seekers housed in 160 hotels at the end of June, down from 32,041 at the same point last year and a peak of 56,018 in September 2023. Asylum hotels have been a flashpoint for the far right, especially last summer, and the government has pledged to end their use by the end of the parliament. It said earlier this month another 13 hotels had recently been exited. But tens of thousands of people are still housed in other forms of contingency accommodation, which has also often been highly controversial, both in local communities and because of the conditions of the housing for a vulnerable group of people. The latest figures show 69,038 were housed in temporary accom