Number of asylum seekers in hotels down 50%
It is the lowest figure since data was first reported in 2022, Home Office figures show
The number of asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels stood at 16,021 at the end of June 2026, down 50% year-on-year from 32,041.
It is the lowest figure since data was first reported in 2022, Home Office figures show.
The total had climbed as high as 56,018 at the end of September 2023.
Home Office spending on asylum in the UK has also decreased.
It stood at £4.36 billion in 2025-26, down 8% from £4.76 billion in 2024-25 and the second annual fall in a row.
The total covers all Home Office costs related to asylum, including direct cash support and accommodation, plus wider staffing and other migration and borders activity, but it does not include costs relating to intercepting small boat migrants.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the figures showed her Government is “restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system”.
The Labour Government has pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament.
Another 13 such hotels closed earlier this month as Andy Burnham’s Government continues the process of moving people into alternative accommodation.
The total number is now below 160 – having peaked at around 400 under the Conservatives.
Ministers are increasing the use of more “basic” sites including former military barracks.
Responding to the latest figures, Ms Mahmood said: “A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly.
“Small boats numbers are also now falling, but we are not complacent and there is more we must do.
“That is why I have boosted enforcement on the French beaches and overseas and introduced new legislation to tackle the pull factors that draw people here through unsafe and illegal routes.
“This Government is restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system.”
Home Office figures released on Thursday also reveal that the number of people who applied for asylum in the UK is down by 21%.
A total of 85,891 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2026 compared with 108,585 in the previous year.
It is the lowest 12-month total since the year to June 2022, when applications stood at 75,668.
The asylum backlog has also gone down.
There were 40,168 people waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June 2026.
This is down 56% from 90,812 a year earlier at the end of June 2025 and is the lowest number since March 2019.
The total peaked at 175,457 at the end of June 2023, which was the highest figure since current records began in 2010.
The number of people waiting more than 12 months for an initial decision stood at 11,014 at the end of June, down 61% from 27,998 a year earlier.