Multi-million-pound costs could sink RAF Barnham asylum seeker housing plans
Plans hindered by environmental and financial obstacles
Government plans to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at a former military base on the Norfolk border face costs running into millions, with sources saying the scheme may ultimately be abandoned.
RAF Barnham is understood to have become an increasing headache for the Home Office as it weighs up plans to begin moving single male migrants into the base before the end of the year.
Insiders claim the overhaul of the ageing site, which will require a host of new accommodation units and costly sewage disposal methods, may prove to render the scheme financially unviable.
The Home Office also faces environmental hurdles, where protections covering rare birds nesting near the site are also likely to present a further obstacle.
Terry Jermy, the Labour MP for South West Norfolk, has regular meetings with the government over the plans and said it is “becoming increasingly clear how entirely unsuitable the site is”.
Barnham, which sits around a mile from Thetford, has been earmarked alongside two other bases – one in Yorkshire and another in Oxfordshire.
Ministers have said they intend to use the Suffolk base for “a minimum of 10 years”.
They are relying on Urgent Crown Development powers, reserved for schemes of national significance, to bypass the normal council planning process.
However, sources close to the process say that if the costs are deemed too high, the government – which is currently reviewing the finances involved with the scheme before making a final decision – could yet withdraw the proposals.
There have been examples of surging costs sinking schemes in the past.
At RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, the Home Office’s own estimated costs went from £5m to £60m before the scheme was scrapped in 2024 – with roughly £48.5m written off as a loss.
Scott Hussey, a Reform cabinet member, said: “Barnham has decades of history as a munitions and nuclear weapons store and sites like this routinely need substantial sewerage and utilities upgrades. The Home Office’s own factsheet admits due diligence on Barnham is still ongoing.
“Given their track record, taxpayers deserve to know the full costs – including any ordnance clearance and infrastructure works – before this Labour government presses ahead.”
Mr Jermy said: “Every single day – through the joined up work I am doing with West Suffolk Council, Breckland Council, Thetford Town Council, Barnham Parish Council and other local stakeholders to object to the potential use of MOD Barnham – it is becoming increasingly clear how entirely unsuitable the site is.
“I have repeatedly been making these objections and concerns clear to the Home Office, other government ministers and the prime minister,” he said.
The concern over the feasibility of the base comes amid significant local protest at the plans.
Hundreds of locals and politicians have regularly gathered outside the gates to raise their concerns in what has been a largely peaceful proceeding.
However, the plans for RAF Barnham are also widely believed to have fuelled the protests in Thetford earlier this month.
Locals descended on HMOs in the town, where some tried to force their way inside properties and caused damage.
Asylum seekers were taken from homes by officers from Norfolk Constabulary over three consecutive nights, and 22 arrests have been made in connection to the disorder.
Norfolk and Suffolk Police currently use the base for specialist training and have objected to the proposals.
Ministers have so far remained mostly tight-lipped about the plans, but shed a glimpse of light last month regarding what was planned.
The site would have security guards on patrol 24 hours a day, backed by CCTV monitoring across the base, with everyone entering or leaving required to sign in and out at the front gate under the oversight of an on-site assurance team.
All those accommodated would undergo security checks, with fingerprints and photographs cross-referenced against immigration, criminality and missing persons databases before arrival.
The base would also enforce a strict “no alcohol zone” and any criminal activity would have to be reported directly to police.
The government has also stated that the men, who will be between the ages of 18 to 65, will be moved in gradually through a “phased approach” starting with smaller numbers before reaching full capacity.
Government officials are coming under pressure to confirm whether or not another Norfolk military base could be used to house asylum seekers.
Wretham Camp, between Watton and Thetford, was on a list of bases which Ministry of Defence chiefs provided to the Home Office as potential alternatives to taxpayer-funded hotels being used to house migrants.
The growing use of such bases prompted Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman write to Anna Turley, minister of state for border security and asylum, seeking a “straight answer” on whether the government is actively considering the use of Wretham Camp as a potential site.
He has yet to receive a response to his question.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites.
“We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, engaging with local authorities to reduce the impact on communities.
“And we are reducing the burden on local communities and taxpayers, with asylum costs down by £1 billion since the general election.”