Three more asylum hotels to close as 44 now shut - full list

Three more hotels used to house asylum seekers will be returned to communities by the end of 2026, bringing the total number of closed sites to 44. The venues are near Stevenage in Hertfordshire, Crawley in West Sussex, and Leyland in Lancashire.

Local MPs welcome closures

The Novotel at Junction 7 of the A1(M) near Stevenage will no longer be used as asylum accommodation. Stevenage's Labour MP, Kevin Bonavia, announced the closure on social media, calling the return to normal use "good news" for his constituency.

Mr Bonavia said: "We can have an asylum system that treats people with humanity and dignity, while being fair to taxpayers and communities." He credited the closure to efforts to fix Britain's asylum system, noting the asylum backlog had dropped 56% in a year.

The Home Office's use of the Novotel for asylum seekers began in September 2022, according to The Comet. The same publication reports that Stevenage Borough Council warned the hotel chain to stop housing asylum seekers in a planning enforcement row last year.

Crawley and Leyland hotels follow

In Crawley, the Copthorne Hotel will no longer be used to house asylum seekers by the end of the year, according to the area's Conservative MP Mims Davies. The Argus reports she said locals' plea that the village "had done its bit" had been heard. The Copthorne Hotel has been used by the Home Office since 2021.

Ms Davies is reported as adding: "The village wants its hotel back as a community asset for events, accommodation and for the local economy, with jobs and opportunities particularly for local young people."

Preston Leyland Hotel in Lancashire is also set to stop housing asylum seekers by the end of 2026, the BBC reports. The venue closed to the public in April 2022. The asylum seekers living at the hotel are to be moved to "proper asylum facilities" and not into houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), Labour MP for Ribble Valley, Paul Foster, is reported as saying.

Government pledge to end hotel use

Asylum hotel numbers peaked under the Conservatives, with 402 in use by the summer of 2023 at a reported cost of £9million per day. Nearly half that number had closed by July 2024. By June of this year, there were 160 still in use, according to the Home Office.

The Government has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by 2029. Ministers are increasing use of more basic sites, including former military barracks, although this has raised concerns and sparked protests among people living near such sites.

Some people in Piddington, Oxfordshire, last week voted to secede from the UK after the Government announced plans to house 1,256 male asylum seekers at a nearby former military base. The symbolic poll drew widespread media attention and also caught the attention of some in Barnham, Suffolk, where RAF Barnham has been identified as a possible asylum accommodation site. John Bauer, who chairs Barnham Parish Council, said a poll could be something his village might want to organise.

A spokesman for the Home Office said previously: "The Government is closing every asylum hotel, saving taxpayers over £1billion on asylum support since the election. We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites which are designed to be self-contained to reduce impact on the local community."

"As part of the process, we engage with local authorities and police forces to ensure the safety and security of those in the surrounding area."