Number of asylum seekers in hotels up 8% in first year of Labour government

The government has promised to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament, - despite figures rising under Labour's watch, ITV News Political Correspondent Shehab Khan explains.

The number of asylum seekers living in UK hotels has risen by 8% under Labour compared to the same point last year, despite falling slightly since March this year.

The figures come after the government's plans to reduce the asylum backlog have been frustrated in recent days by a High Court issued an interim injunction barring the housing of migrants at a hotel in Essex.

The judgment has led to many other councils considering their own legal action over asylum hotels.

The latest Home Office data, published on Thursday as part of the usual quarterly immigration statistics, covers Labour’s first year in office.

They show there were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June.

This was up from 29,585 at the same point a year earlier, when the Conservatives were still in power, but down slightly on the 32,345 figure at the end of March.

The government has promised to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament.

The latest number is still below the peak of 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels at the end of September 2023 under the Tories.

The statistics also showed the average number of people on each small boat has increased every year to 56 people per boat in the year ending June 2025 compared with 51 people per boat in the year ending June 2024.

The month of June 2025 saw the highest monthly average on record, with 65 people per boat.

A total of 43,000 people came to the UK by small boat in the last year, an increase of 38% on the previous year, but slightly lower than the peak in arrivals at 46,000 in 2022.

While the figures show rising small boat numbers and an annual increase in the number of those in hotels, the statistics released on Thursday also revealed that the backlog of asylum seekers waiting for an initial decision is down 18%.

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Despite that, 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025, 14% more than the previous year, which is also higher than the highest peak of 103,000 in 2022.

The number of migrants being detained has also increased by 14% compared to last year, along with the number of enforced returns, which is up 25% on 2024.

Visas have continued to fall over the last two years since the Conservative government brought in tougher restrictions on people eligible to travel to the UK on work and study visas, including a ban on foreign students and care workers bringing dependants, and a hike in the minimum salary threshold required to apply.

There were 36% fewer visas granted across all work categories than in the year ending June 2024, with health and care worker visas falling by 88%.

While student visas have fallen by a lot less at 4%, the number of visas issued to dependants of students was 81% lower at 18,000 compared to the year ending June 2024.

Responding to the statistics, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour "inherited a broken immigration and asylum system that the previous government left in chaos.

"Since coming to office we have strengthened Britain’s visa and immigration controls, cut asylum costs and sharply increased enforcement and returns, as today’s figures show."

“The action we have taken in the last 12 months - increasing returns of failed asylum seekers by over 30%, cutting asylum costs by 11%, reducing the backlog by 18% and our forthcoming plans to overhaul the failing asylum appeal system - are crucial steps to restoring order, and putting an end to the chaotic use of asylum hotels that we inherited from the previous government."

She also pointed to the government's recently agreed "one-in-one out" pilot with France which she argued would "restore order, control and fairness to the system and to continue building the foundations of a new and stronger approach.”

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage said: “Under Labour we now have record numbers claiming asylum. The vast majority should never qualify and most will cost the taxpayer a huge sum of money.

"Our streets are becoming more dangerous yet this disaster gets worse.

"The public are right to be very angry with both Labour and the Tories for what they have done to us.”

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Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "This is a migration crisis, and the weak Labour government is making it worse.

"More crossings, more migrants in hotels and fewer removals - Labour has lost control of Britain’s borders.

"Only the Conservatives have a plan to fix this by deporting every illegal arrival and sending the smugglers scurrying back into the shadows."

The statistics on the number of asylum seekers arriving via small boats and staying in hotels will be unwelcome news for the government after the major High Court ruling on the Bell Hotel in Essex this week.

The request to issue the injunction was made by Epping's Conservative-led council and has sparked a chain reaction of other authorities across the whole political spectrum, signalling they will pursue similar courses of action.

These include Labour-run Tamworth and Wirral councils, Tory-run Broxbourne and East Lindsey councils and Reform’s Staffordshire and West Northamptonshire councils.

ITV News' Paul Brand said that sources within the party feel that councils are going to waste taxpayers' money fighting a government that is already working to end the use of hotels by asylum seekers.

Other government sources have pointed to the reaction of other parties as political game-playing, claiming councils did not bring legal challenges when the Conservatives were in office.

On Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch wrote to Conservative-led councils, urging them to follow the same route as Epping council, "if your legal advice supports it.”

Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, has also indicated that all Reform-led councils will explore the same legal route.

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