The Wool Merchant hotel in Halifax, which has housed asylum seekers since 2022, closed in April 2026 as part of a government push to end the use of hotels for asylum accommodation. The hotel reopened to the public under new management a month later.
As of March 2026, 20,885 asylum seekers (21 per cent) were living in hotels, while 72,768 (75 per cent) were in other accommodation. The number of hotels in use has fallen from a peak of around 400 to 170, following the closure of a further 20 in June 2026.
Professor Jonathan Darling of Durham University noted that asylum seekers typically receive only a few days’ notice of closure, and are then moved to dispersal accommodation such as houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) or shared rooms. Reports have criticised hotel conditions as cramped, with unhealthy food and no play spaces for children.
The use of hotels expanded dramatically during the pandemic, from 1,200 people in March 2020 to 9,500 by October 2020. The surge has been attributed to a chronic shortage of social housing and a backlog of nearly 87,500 asylum appeals as of March 2026.
Net migration has fallen sharply, from a peak of 944,000 in the year to March 2023 to 171,000 in the year to June 2025. Despite this, research suggests a substantial portion of the public believes migration has increased.
