Home Office Squandered Billions on Asylum Hotels

A Home Affairs Committee report found the Home Office has squandered billions on asylum accommodation, with projected ten‑year costs rising from £4.5bn to £15.3bn. MPs criticised the department’s default reliance on hotels — 32,059 people were in hotel accommodation in June and about 103,000 were being housed overall — which has strained local services and led to community unrest after incidents such as the Epping assault. The committee identified failures of leadership, short‑term reactive planning and poor contract oversight of private providers, naming Clearsprings, Mears and Serco and flagging excess profits (Mears c.£13.8m; Clearsprings c.£32m pending audit) that have not been reclaimed. It also raised serious safeguarding failures, including wrongful age assessments that placed children in adult accommodation. MPs urged the government to use 2026 contract break clauses to overhaul what they called a “failed, chaotic and expensive” system and said hotels should only be ended by 2029 if a credible, long‑term alternative is in place; the Home Office says it is taking action to close hotels and reduce costs.