For the second summer in a row, “asylum hotels” have become a flashpoint of protest, with some turning violent.
The government has said the asylum system is under “unprecedented strain”, forcing it to use hotels to accommodate migrants.
Meanwhile, the number of asylum seekers crossing the Channel has surpassed 50,000 since Labour came to power and has reached 27,881 in the year to 14 August.
Sky News looks at the numbers, why housing migrants has become such a fraught topic, when the practice could end, and a legal ruling in Essex which is set to bring further challenges to asylum seekers living in certain hotels.
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How many hotels are being used for asylum seekers?
The Home Office says fewer than 210 hotels are now being used to house asylum seekers, down from more than 400 in the summer of 2023.
According to the latest available data, 32,345 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels at the end of March 2025 – 31% of the 103,684 asylum seekers receiving accommodation support in the UK at the time.
That figure was up from 29,585 at the end of June 2024, just before Labour came into office, but down from the end of 2024, when 38,079 asylum seekers were in hotels according to the Refugee Council.
March’s figure is also down 42% from the peak of 56,042 at the end of September 2023.
The data from March shows London was by far the most common place for asylum seekers to be housed in hotels, with 12,024 in the capital, followed by the South East with 3,738, the West Midlands with 3,306 and the North West with 3,167.
Why are hotels being used?
When people arrive in the UK and apply for asylum, saying they want to stay as a refugee because it would be unsafe for them to return to their own country, they can access emergency temporary accommodation if they have no other way of supporting themselves.
Rising Channel crossings mean more of those applications. Asylum seekers need initial accommodation while they wait for their case to be processed, and that is when a hostel or hotel is commonly used.
As part of the government’s system, asylum seekers are supposed to move swiftly from initial accommodation to longer-term temporary accommodation, such as shared houses or flats.
But with a lot of arrivals and a big processing backlog, they are spending longer in hotels, which are often more expensive than other accommodation.
The government says the needs of people already in the UK and on long housing waiting lists are another factor in keeping migrants in hotels instead of other accommodation.
Why are people protesting?
There have been demonstrations outside asylum hotels in recent years by anti-immigration protesters, often met with counter-protests.
Many of the protesters have voiced safety concerns for their communities and discontent with the high costs of hotel accommodation, while counter-protesters express support for migrant rights.
Epping has been a flashpoint, with multiple protests, initially sparked when an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault after allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Since the disorder broke out, Essex Police said more than a dozen people have been charged in connection with the demonstrations, which included counter-protests from Stand Up To Racism.
But the local council has now been granted a temporary injunction blocking migrants from being housed at a hotel there.
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It has triggered the potential for more councils, including those controlled by Reform UK, to follow suit.
One of the most notorious protests was at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham in August last year, when rioters smashed its windows and started fires outside.
More recently, there have been protests outside asylum hotels in Altrincham near Manchester, Norwich, Islington and Canary Wharf in London and Epping Forest in Essex.
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What is it like for asylum seekers in hotels?
Initial accommodation for asylum seekers can be full-board, half-board, or self-catering. They are not given a choice on where they stay.
If they are in catered accommodation such as hotels, they are provided with three meals a day and essential personal hygiene items and toiletries, and receive a “personal allowance” of £9.95 a week.
In self-catered accommodation, each person gets £49.18 a week loaded onto a payment card, to cover food and other essentials.
This government support lasts until the person’s asylum claim has been processed.
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Campaigners for asylum seekers’ rights, such as Migrant Voice, have spoken out against the use of hotels, claiming they often provide inadequate living conditions and a lack of privacy and security, as many are targeted by protesters.
When will hotels stop being used for asylum seekers?
The government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, in 2029, a move Chancellor Rachel Reeves has claimed will save £1bn a year.
Ministers say they inherited a “broken system”, with 400 hotels being used to accommodate asylum seekers at the peak of the crisis under the Tories.
In July, the government said some migrants were “gaming the system” by resisting efforts to move them into alternative housing without a valid reason.
It said a new policy meant housing support would be removed from those who block transfer requests, and that they risked becoming homeless while waiting for their asylum cases to be processed.
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A government spokesperson told Sky News: “Since taking office, we have taken immediate action to fix the asylum system and have started closing down hotels and returning more than 35,000 people with no right to be here.
“From over 400 asylum hotels open in summer 2023, costing almost £9ma day, there are now less than 210, and we want them all closed by the end of this parliament.
“We will continue to work closely with community partners across the country, and discuss any concerns they have, as we look to fix this broken system together.”
The government said the cost of asylum hotels was reduced from an average of £8.3m per day in 2023/24 to £5.77m per day in 2024/25.
A “one in, one out” pilot scheme between the UK and France has now come into force, allowing the UK to send some people who have crossed the Channel back to France immediately in exchange for asylum seekers with ties to the UK, who are considered more likely to have a successful asylum claim.
