The Home Office announced on 15 April 2026 that eleven asylum hotels have closed, with more to follow, and that it is moving people into larger, more basic accommodation sites.
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The Home Office says eleven asylum hotels have been closed and returned to their local communities, and that further closures will follow in the coming weeks. The announcement was published on 15 April 2026.
The hotels named as closed are:
- Banbury House Hotel, Banbury, Oxfordshire
- Marine Court Hotel, Bangor, Ards and North Down
- 15 Citrus Hotel, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
- Holiday Inn Heathrow, Hillingdon, London
- Britannia Hotel, Wolverhampton
- Madeley Court Hotel, Madeley, Telford & Wrekin
- OYO Lakeside, St Helens, Merseyside
- Crewe Arms Hotel, Crewe, Cheshire East
- Sure Hotel by Best Western, Aberdeen
- The Rock Hotel, Halifax, Calderdale
- Wool Merchant Hotel, Halifax, Calderdale
The Home Office says this round of closures will save nearly £65 million a year. It also says overall asylum costs have fallen by nearly £1 billion since the government took office.
The number of hotels in use peaked at around 400, with costs of £9 million a day. The Home Office says the figure is now just under 190. It says the number of people housed in hotels is down nearly 20% in the past year and 45% below the peak.
The Home Office says it is scaling up large, basic accommodation sites as hotels close. Up to 350 people have been moved to the Crowborough military barracks, which opened three months ago. The Home Office says people housed in such accommodation whose asylum claims are rejected will be removed from the UK.
Other figures in the announcement:
- Nearly 60,000 people have been removed since the 2024 election, which the Home Office describes as including foreign national offenders.
- Over £74 million has been recouped from poorly run asylum accommodation contracts.
- Over 42,000 small boat crossing attempts have been prevented through work with France since the election.
The Home Office also says it is removing accommodation from people who can afford to support themselves and from those who break the rules. The announcement does not set out the rules or procedure for this.
What this means for applicants
The announcement gives no new rules, dates or procedures for individual asylum seekers. It says people in hotels are being moved to larger, more basic sites as hotels close, and that those housed whose claims are rejected will be removed. It does not say how or when individual moves will be notified.
Sources
- Asylum hotels close as government scales up use of large sites, Home Office, 15 April 2026