Home Office plans to house 800 asylum seekers in disused care homes

In a bid to address the increasing costs associated with housing asylum seekers in the UK, the Home Office has announced plans to establish 800 new accommodation sites, including disused care homes and vacant student housing. This initiative comes amid rising expenditures, with the government reportedly spending approximately £4.7 billion on asylum support in the 2023-24 period, £3.1 billion of which was allocated for hotel accommodation. The reliance on hotels to house around 35,000 asylum seekers has become costly, with nightly expenses around £150 per individual. Seeking a more cost-effective solution, the Home Office's strategy aims to transition away from hotel stays and minimize reliance on previous mass accommodation sites such as the Bibby Stockholm barge and former military bases, which have not performed as anticipated. Public accounts committee discussions revealed that these sites failed to deliver expected savings, prompting more exploration into alternative housing options that could integrate asylum seekers into communities adequately. By developing a new role titled the New Sites Operational Post, the Home Office underscores its commitment to managing these newly proposed accommodation sites efficiently. The overarching goal of this endeavor is to save taxpayer money while ensuring that asylum seekers, many of whom have faced significant trauma, are housed in a manner that supports their integration into society rather than in isolated or substandard conditions.