Study Warns Asylum Hotels Could Close Within a Year if Government Grants Limited Leave to Five Nationalities

Published: 28 August 2025 | The English Chronicle Desk

A new study has warned that asylum hotels across the United Kingdom could be closed within the next year if the Government were to introduce a one-off scheme granting limited leave to remain for asylum seekers from five key countries. The analysis, published today by the Refugee Council, argues that such a move would not only relieve pressure on the asylum system but also help to reduce growing tensions surrounding the use of hotels as temporary accommodation.

The proposal focuses on applicants from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan and Iran, five countries that currently have some of the highest asylum approval rates in the UK. Home Office statistics show that 98 percent of Sudanese and 86 percent of Eritrean applications are granted, while the majority of applicants from the other three nations are also successful. According to the Refugee Council, a one-off measure offering people from these nations “time-limited” permission to stay, subject to security checks, would dramatically speed up the closure of hotels being used to house asylum seekers.

At present, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has committed to ending the use of asylum hotels by 2029, but the Refugee Council has criticised that timetable as “unsustainable” and damaging to community relations. It warns that keeping thousands of people in limbo for years will continue to inflame hostility, leaving residents of hotels exposed to harassment and far-right targeting. Around 200 hotels across the UK are still housing asylum seekers, despite numbers falling from more than 56,000 under the previous Conservative government to 32,000 as of June.

The human impact of prolonged stays in asylum hotels is stark. Muhammad, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan who spent six months living in one such facility, described the experience as dehumanising. “People film residents outside the hotel without permission, using it in a negative way. It affects people and makes them feel hopeless about the system,” he said. Such testimonies have become increasingly common as frustrations mount among both residents and local communities.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the continued reliance on hotels is failing both asylum seekers and the wider public. “As long as hotels remain open, they will continue to be flashpoints for far-right activity, fuelling tensions and driving communities apart. It is a failure of government to keep people in a system that leaves them in limbo for months, at huge cost to the public purse,” he argued. He added that the recent High Court ruling in Epping, which ordered the closure of the Bell Hotel by 12 September after finding that planning rules had been breached, demonstrates that the current approach cannot hold until the end of Parliament.

The ruling has already emboldened local authorities across the country, including Labour-run councils, to consider launching legal challenges of their own against the continued use of hotels. In recent weeks, a series of protests has been staged outside asylum accommodation, underscoring the growing hostility and pressure on government ministers to act. The Refugee Council believes the solution lies in acknowledging the reality of high approval rates for certain nationalities and implementing a one-off status grant for those already in the system as of June.

Such a scheme, the organisation contends, would quickly reduce the backlog of cases, free up resources for more complex applications, and allow for the closure of hotels much earlier than the current 2029 target. It insists that limited leave to remain, combined with thorough security vetting, would strike a balance between humanitarian obligations and public concerns over immigration.

For many asylum seekers, the uncertainty of life inside hotels has compounded the trauma of fleeing conflict and persecution. For communities hosting them, the prolonged presence of temporary accommodation has sparked resentment and political division. As both sides grow increasingly restless, the Refugee Council’s study warns that the Government’s timeline is “no longer viable” and urges urgent action to prevent further strain on communities, the public purse, and those seeking sanctuary.

The debate over asylum hotels has become one of the most charged political issues facing the Starmer government. While ministers have promised reforms to speed up processing and end reliance on temporary accommodation, campaigners insist that without bold steps such as the one-off scheme, hotels will remain a costly and contentious feature of Britain’s asylum system for years to come.