Home Office books 4,000 hotel rooms for asylum seekers

Home Office books 4,000 hotel rooms for asylum seekers amid pressure from cross-Channel migration and coronavirus

  • The Home Office has booked 4,000 hotel rooms to house asylum seekers
  • Hotels in Hull, Birmingham, Nottingham, Southport and Glasgow have been used
  • It comes amid pressure from a surge of migration and the coronavirus pandemic

The Home Office has booked 4,000 hotel rooms for asylum seekers amid pressure from a surge of cross-Channel migration and the coronavirus pandemic.  

Hotels in Hull, Birmingham, Nottingham, Southport and Glasgow have been used amid a shortage of permanent accommodation for newcomers to live while their asylum claims are assessed.   

Companies who provide accommodation for migrants had also been permitted to find rooms in places that were not part of the scheme that oversees where the newcomers are dispersed across Britain. 

The number of rooms occupied by asylum seekers is not known but it is understood to be thousands, The Times reports.   

Some were housed in the Bell Hotel in Epping Forest, Essex, where the council sent out a ‘myth-busting’ leaflet to quell ‘unfounded rumours’ that have ‘unnecessarily alarmed’ residents. 

Home Office chiefs have also apologised for an ‘error’ after Nigel Farage was filmed visiting a hotel housing migrants in Priti Patel’s constituency. 

A Border Force vessel brings in migrants found off the coast of Dover Port in Dover, Britain, 16 August

Home Office chiefs have also apologised for an 'error' after Nigel Farage was filmed visiting a hotel housing migrants in Priti Patel's constituency

Home Office chiefs have also apologised for an ‘error’ after Nigel Farage was filmed visiting a hotel housing migrants in Priti Patel’s constituency 

The Rivehall Hotel is a hotel in Witham, Essex, which has a three out of five star rating on both Google and TripAdvisor

The Rivehall Hotel is a hotel in Witham, Essex, which has a three out of five star rating on both Google and TripAdvisor

The former UKIP MEP shared a video on Twitter in which he is seen visiting the £54-a-night Rivenhall Hotel in Witham, Essex – the Conservative MP’s constituency. 

While sharing a shortened version of his seven-minute long video, he also accused the MP of ‘taking Britons for a ride’.  

Bosses at the Home Office say they have launched a ‘full review’ into their operation of finding temporary accommodation for asylum seekers who arrive in the UK without a home to go to. 

Yesterday it was revealed that a five-year-old girl was among a group of migrants arriving in Dover on the 14th consecutive day of Channel crossings. 

On Sunday 112 migrants arrived at Kent’s shores, bringing the total for this month so far up to at least 1,232 – smashing July’s record 1,118 arrivals. 

A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat headed in the direction of Dover, Kent

A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat headed in the direction of Dover, Kent 

The arrivals come as traffickers take advantage of vulnerable asylum seekers desperately fleeing their homelands by offering the paid-for arrangement at a camp in Calais. 

Guest houses being used to house asylum seekers include The Scarisbrick Hotel in Southport and the Royal Hotel Hull. 

The Home Office and asylum accommodation providers Mears, Serco and Clearsprings now use hotels due to the halting of all removals of applicants from properties amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

A source said: ‘Usually there would be enough accommodation available as there are always people moved on after being given asylum or refused. There is not at the moment. The answer has been to source hotel accommodation, usually in three-star hotels.’

The Home Office said: ‘Since March the number of people within the asylum system has risen. This is because we temporarily ceased ending asylum support for those whose claims have been either granted or refused. This is to ensure people were not made homeless during lockdown.’