Home Office lacks asylum housing plan, MPs warn

The Home Office has no ‘credible’ long-term plan for housing asylum seekers, MPs have warned, despite a government pledge to stop using hotels by 2029. 

A highly critical report from the cross-party committee says the asylum system is under ‘severe strain’, with rising costs and persistent backlogs.

The committee says the Home Office has not shown it has a credible long-term accommodation strategy and points to costly setbacks involving sites including Bibby Stockholm and Northeye.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the committee, said: “Our report provides an end-to-end snapshot of the entire asylum system, and its findings paint a disturbing picture – at the time of our inquiry, control of it had been all but lost.

“The focus on short term, reactive ‘fixes’ has left the government chasing after pressures pushed from one part of the system to the next.

“There is no clear strategy uniting these efforts, and engagement across departments and with local authorities is patchy at best.”

Billions spent on accommodation

The report also highlights issues with weak data and fragmented accountability across Whitehall.

The Home Office and Ministry of Justice spent around £4.9 billion on the asylum system in 2024–25.

About £3.4 billion of that amount went on accommodation and support.

Poor data is also singled out as a major weakness because there is still no single, reliable record for each asylum seeker.

Information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and local records.

Growing asylum demand

Demand has also continued to rise and in the year ending December 2025, around 100,600 people claimed asylum in the UK, more than double the number recorded six years earlier.

The committee says successive governments have relied on short-term measures that move pressure from one part of the system to another, rather than fixing underlying problems.

Its report says departments still lack a coherent strategy for managing asylum as an ‘integrated, end-to-end system’.

The responsibility is split between the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, local government and other bodies.

MPs also questioned the government’s plan to cut annual asylum spending by £1 billion by 2028–29 while introducing what ministers have described as an ‘entirely new asylum model’.

Governance arrangements not explained

The committee also says new governance arrangements have not yet been explained convincingly, including how they will work or how accountability will be exercised.

Asylum appeals are now taking about 60 weeks to be heard.

The Ministry of Justice told the committee that around 70,000 people were waiting for an appeal decision, compared with 27,000 in April 2024.

MPs also highlighted National Audit Office analysis of 5,000 people who claimed asylum in January 2023.

It found 41% were effectively ‘in limbo’, with no grant of asylum and no final resolution.

Driving up costs

According to the committee, ‘many remain in the UK for extended periods while awaiting deportation or without a final decision.

‘This leaves a large cohort of people stuck in the asylum system for prolonged periods, creating uncertainty for individuals and driving up support costs.’

It was also critical of the Home Office’s records on failed asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected and whose appeal rights have been exhausted.

Officials told the committee they knew where ‘some’ of those individuals were.

They also acknowledged that the department does not know with complete certainty who has left the UK and who has not.

The committee said: “This is a shocking and unacceptable state of affairs.”

Removing failed asylum seekers

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Asylum claims are down, hotel use is falling and immigration enforcement activity is at the highest level on record – with the largest number of raids and arrests ever.

“We’ve tracked down and removed nearly 70,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals since the Government took office – a 41% increase.

“Any asylum seekers who break their bail conditions by absconding will be tracked down and arrested.”