A Step Closer: Ending Hotel Accommodation for Asylum Seekers

​Last Thursday, we delivered our petition to No. 10 Downing Street and to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, calling for an end to the use of hotels as asylum accommodation. With over 500 signatures, it sends a clear message that the current system is failing families and urgent change is needed.

​For too many asylum seekers, what was meant to be temporary accommodation has turned into long-term confinement in unsanitary conditions. Families have shared stories of cramped rooms overrun with rats, and inedible food. These are not the promised safe spaces but degrading, inhumane conditions that no one should be subjected to.

Children, in particular, have suffered the most—enduring poor living conditions that have caused infections, stomach problems, and declining mental health, all while falling behind academically.

Saba, our client and a mother of 2 young children described the struggles of having a new born in a hotel, with no space for a cot and no access to a fridge to store breast milk.

Worse still, hotels housing asylum seekers became targets of far-right hate last summer, endangering already vulnerable people. Families who fled war and persecution to find safety were met instead with hostility and threats, fearing for their lives in the very places meant to protect them.
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Let’s be clear: asylum seekers don’t benefit from hotel stays. They don’t want to be in hotels. They would much rather live in homes where they can cook their own food, clean for themselves, and can become part of society. They want to be self-sufficient—working, studying, and building their futures. Yet, they remain stuck in these demeaning settings, prevented from working and forced to rely on a broken system.

The only true beneficiaries of hotel accommodation are the private contractors. Companies like Clearsprings and Serco make enormous profits from this misery, bagging multi-million-pound government contracts without delivering safe, sustainable housing. Meanwhile, the taxpayer foots an eye-watering bill—£145 per night per person—funding an inefficient, harmful system. The anger and frustration around these costs should not be aimed at asylum seekers but at those profiting from their suffering.​

We welcome Yvette Cooper’s announcement that some hotels will be served closure notices. However, this should just be the beginning. The 2026 contractual break clause offers a crucial opportunity to end the reliance on hotels and instead invest in community-based solutions. Local dispersal housing would provide asylum seekers with safe, stable accommodation while significantly reducing costs and fostering integration into society. We must ensure that families receive targeted support to rebuild their lives in stable environments.
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Thank you to everyone who signed the petition, shared their stories, and stood with us. Together, we’ll keep pushing to ensure the government fulfils its promise to end hotel accommodation.