Asylum accommodation

Home Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 17 Dec 2024 Closed: 22 Jan 2026 Parliament page
The Home Office has a duty to provide housing and subsistence to asylum seekers who are awaiting a decision on their claim and are destitute. Asylum accommodation is primarily delivered by private providers through the Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC). Home Office spending on asylum accommodation and support … Read more
22 Recommendations
24 Conclusions
1 Report
5 Oral sessions
6 Letters
5 Events
Activity timeline 18 events
22 Jan
2026
Report published
22 Jan
2026
Correspondence
11 Nov
2025
Correspondence
27 Oct
2025
Report published
14 Oct
2025
Correspondence
14 Oct
2025
Correspondence
1 Jul
2025
Oral evidence
1 Jul
2025
Correspondence
1 Jul
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
10 Jun
2025
Oral evidence
10 Jun
2025
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
13 May
2025
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
1 Jul 2025
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Caroline O'Connor · Migrant Help Juliet Halstead · Migrant Help
10 Jun 2025
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Dame Angela Eagle DBE · Home Office Joanna Rowland CB · Home Office Simon Ridley · Home Office
13 May 2025
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Claudia Sturt · Serco UK & Europe Jason Burt · Mears Group Steve Lakey · Clearsprings Ready Homes
29 Apr 2025
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Alex Fraser · British Red Cross Councillor Peter Mason · Local Government Association Enver Solomon · Refugee Council Frances McMeeking · Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership Megan Smith · Deighton Pierce Glynn Natasha Beresford · Dacorum Borough Council Paul Dennett · Salford City Council
18 Mar 2025
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David Bolt · Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration Dr Lucy Mort · Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Professor Jonathan Darling · Durham University Sachin Savur · Institute for Government
Title HC No. Published Items Response
4th Report – The Home Office's management of asylum accommodation HC 580 27 Oct 2025 46 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
12 results
Clear
11 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office performance management regime remains inadequate, failing to hold providers accountable for contract delivery.
The failings in the current performance management regime mean that the Home Office is not able to properly hold its providers to account. The Home Office has had more than enough time to identify and address the deficiencies in the … Read more
Government Response
The government outlined Migrant Help's contractual responsibilities and performance standards under the AIRE contract, noting ongoing improvements but also stating the Home Office is currently reviewing performance frameworks and contract scope. It reserves the right to consider alternative providers if standards are not met.
Home Office
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12 Recommendation Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Agree new Key Performance Indicators with contract providers and regularly review the regime.
The Home Office should, as a matter of urgency, agree new KPIs with contract providers. In future the KPI regime should be reviewed regularly to ensure that it remains appropriate and relevant. (Recommendation, Paragraph 58) Oversight of subcontractors Read more
Government Response
The government responded by outlining the complexities of the current AIRE service delivery model and stating it is currently reviewing performance frameworks and contract scope, as well as examining alternative approaches for future AIRE service provision. It did not commit to urgently agreeing new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with contract providers.
Home Office
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13 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office lacked adequate oversight of major asylum accommodation subcontracting arrangements.
Stay Belvedere Hotels Ltd was operating as a major subcontractor from 2019 onwards, but the Home Office only became aware of issues with the company within the last year. It was only after these issues came to light that the … Read more
Government Response
The Home Office updated its Safeguarding Framework in August 2025 and established a new Safeguarding and Public Protection Programme. However, it states that specific contractual performance measures and wider auditing for subcontractors are outside the current scope of work and remain under review for future development.
Home Office
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20 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Inappropriate asylum hotel use causes significant harm and impacts community cohesion.
Long stays in inappropriate hotels are often deeply harmful to the people accommodated there. Local services are left to respond to these impacts and fill the gaps where the basic needs of asylum seekers are not being met. The use … Read more
Government Response
The government reiterates its commitment to closing asylum hotels by the end of Parliament, noting progress in reducing numbers and detailing its managed plan to coordinate closures with local authorities while exploring alternative large sites.
Home Office
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31 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Significant failings in age assessment lead to children in adult asylum accommodation
There are significant failings in the current processes for making initial decisions about age and unreliable decisions are still leading to children being incorrectly placed in adult accommodation. We do not have confidence that the arrangements for accommodation providers to … Read more
Government Response
The Home Office has closed emergency UASC hotels, provided incentivised funding to local authorities, and committed to strengthening age assessment processes through an Immigration White Paper and trials of AI technology. They also use safeguarding audits and contractual levers to monitor provider compliance.
Home Office
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35 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office failed to achieve equitable asylum distribution targets, lacking credible plan
The Home Office has failed to achieve its targets for an equitable distribution of asylum seekers. Asylum accommodation is still heavily concentrated in particular areas, often areas of high deprivation. Many local authorities do not have faith that the department … Read more
Government Response
The Home Office states its commitment to fair distribution and is reviewing its indexing tool for capacity and impact. It has National Asylum Allocation Plans and a transformation programme to reduce reliance on contingency accommodation and restore a sustainable dispersal model, despite rejecting a specific recommendation about the indexing tool in a related response.
Home Office
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37 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office failed to assess and mitigate local impacts of asylum accommodation delivery
The Home Office has failed to properly consider the impacts of its approach to the delivery of asylum accommodation on local areas and to engage early with local partners to understand what these impacts might be. It is inexplicable that … Read more
Government Response
The Home Office states that impacts on local areas are actively considered using an indexing model that accounts for local pressures. It launched a pilot to extend the move-on period for asylum seekers and has issued guidance to all providers on appropriate data sharing to ensure a consistent approach with local partners.
Home Office
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39 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office failed to prioritise community cohesion, fostering mistrust and undermining social cohesion
For too long, the Home Office has not prioritised community cohesion in its approach to asylum accommodation, no doubt at least partly because that is the responsibility of another department. The Home Office has failed to properly engage with local … Read more
Government Response
The Home Office asserts it already engages extensively with local authorities and partners on asylum accommodation. It is also committed to improving and prioritizing communication with local communities, developing clear messaging, strengthening engagement channels, and undertaking trials with police forces to counter misinformation and foster community cohesion.
Home Office
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41 Recommendation Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office lacks clear strategy for asylum accommodation, relying on damaging short-term responses
The Home Office has not demonstrated that it has had a strategy for the delivery of asylum accommodation. The department’s approach has instead been a series of hasty, short-term responses, damaging relationships with partners and confidence in the ability of … Read more
Government Response
The government reiterates its commitment to exiting all asylum hotels as soon as possible, stating it's a complex programme requiring a balanced and evidence-based approach, and is reviewing its long-term accommodation strategy.
Home Office
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42 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office lacks clear strategy for sustainable asylum accommodation system
The 2026 break clause and the end of the contracts in 2029 represent an opportunity to draw a line under the current failed, chaotic and expensive system and move to a model that is more effective and offers value for … Read more
Government Response
The Home Office states that exiting asylum hotels is a top priority, with significant progress already made, and commits to ending hotel use by the end of the current Parliament. It is reviewing its long-term accommodation strategy in light of recent policy statements and is working with other departments to deliver a more flexible estate, including military sites.
Home Office
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43 Conclusion Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Government lacks fully articulated plan to reduce asylum hotel use
The Government has committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament. Ministers have yet to set out a fully articulated plan with clear milestones for how the Government will deliver a … Read more
Government Response
The government reiterates its commitment to ending hotel use by the end of Parliament, citing progress in reducing numbers, and states it is reviewing its long-term accommodation strategy, but will not publish specific timelines for closures.
Home Office
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45 Recommendation Acknowledged
4th Report – The Home Office's man…
Home Office must retain effective control over asylum accommodation system
There is no one solution that will solve the fundamental challenges of delivering asylum accommodation on the required scale, and the Home Office cannot simply sub-contract responsibility to local government or private companies—ministers must have effective control and oversight. Regardless … Read more
Government Response
The government is committed to ending hotel use for asylum accommodation and is reviewing its long-term strategy, working with other departments and engaging with local authorities. However, it did not explicitly commit to shaping a future approach that is *more locally led* as recommended, focusing instead on overall strategy and collaboration.
Home Office
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Government Response AI assessment · 46 of 22 classified
Accepted 11
Accepted in Part 6
Acknowledged 12
Deferred 13
Not Addressed 1
Rejected 3
Total 22 recs + 24 conclusions
Correspondence 6 letters
22 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from Minister for Border Security relating to Stay Belvedere Hotels Ltd 15.01.2026
Parliament page
11 Nov 2025 To committee Letter from the Minister for Border Security and Asylum regarding asylum accommodation 10.11.2025
Parliament page
14 Oct 2025 From the Minister for Border Security & Asylum relating to Asylum accommodation 08.10.2025
Parliament page
14 Oct 2025 From committee Letter to the Minister for Border Security and Asylum re asylum accommodation 01.07.2025
Parliament page
1 Jul 2025 To committee Letter from the Minister for Border Security & Asylum on Asylum Accommodation following the evidence session on 10 June 25.06.2025
Parliament page
29 Apr 2025 To committee Letter from the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council on asylum accommodation 14.04.2025
Parliament page