Dr Zubir Ahmed, the MP for Glasgow South West, has written to the Home Secretary to request a temporary halt on housing more asylum seekers in the city, warning that pressure on local services has become "unsustainable".
The MP has also written to the Scottish Government urging SNP ministers to change the operation of local connection rules "to make sure we have a priority housing list within Scotland that tries to put local families first".
Pressure on services
More than 3,000 asylum seekers are housed in Glasgow by the private Mears group under a UK Government-funded contract while their claims are assessed. Many lack the financial means to find housing themselves if granted right to remain.
At that stage, Glasgow City Council must step in and provide accommodation under Scots law. The local authority is now housing more than 6,000 former asylum seekers, with the bill rising from £38 million last year to a projected £56 million next year.
MP's letter to Home Secretary
In his letter to Shabana Mahmood, Dr Ahmed said: "The Prime Minister is right that poorer communities cannot continue to carry a disproportionate share of asylum accommodation simply because housing is cheaper there."
He added: "But the pressure on the city is now exceptional and unsustainable. Glasgow City Council declared a housing emergency in November 2023 and that emergency continues."
Dr Ahmed noted that in 2025, 94 per cent of Scotland's asylum seekers were living in Glasgow, but that figure has since fallen. He said Glasgow still houses more asylum seekers than any other local authority in the UK, accommodating 58 asylum seekers per 10,000 residents.
Call for circuit breaker
Dr Ahmed continued: "I think that principle should now be applied to Glasgow. I am therefore asking the Home Office for a circuit break on any further asylum accommodation in Glasgow, while the Government rebalances provision across the country."
He said new accommodation should be directed towards parts of the country which currently accommodate significantly fewer people, proposing a temporary measure.
"But for the moment the pressure on our services and city is unsustainable. Trust between government and citizen, between communities themselves is fracturing. This is putting minority communities like the ones I represent in one of the most diverse constituencies in Scotland, in the firing line."
A UK Government spokesman said it was already reducing the number of dispersal properties in Glasgow through planned hand backs, without replacement, while increasing accommodation provision in other parts of Scotland. They added: "We continue to engage extensively with Glasgow City Council to support a more equitable distribution of asylum accommodation across Scotland."
