Home Office to exit first 50 asylum hotels by the end of January

Fifty hotels currently being used to house asylum seekers across the UK will be returned to general use by the end of January 2024, the Home Office has said.

It comes after the government announced its commitment to "slash" the number of hotels being used for housing asylum seekers in June this year due to the system reportedly costing £6m a day.

Initial efforts will prioritise hotels that can be exited quickly, with the first of these due to happen over the coming days.

Asylum seekers currently accommodated in these hotels will be relocated to other parts of the asylum estate, including the Bibby Stockholm barge, which reopened this month after it was evacuated due to legionella bacteria being found in the water supply.

Hotels returning to the market will "help to relieve pressures on local services in the areas where exits are taking place, and provide a boost to the local economy", the Home Office said.

It said it will "work closely" with accommodation providers and local authorities "to manage the exit process in a way which limits the impact on partners and service users alike".