Some 36,273 asylum seekers were living in taxpayer-funded rooms in the year to September 2025.
Migrants are being given taxpayer-funded hotel rooms (Image: Getty)
The number of migrants living in hotels has increased to the highest number in nearly 18 months, shocking figures have revealed.
Some 36,273 asylum seekers were living in taxpayer-funded rooms in the year to September 2025.
The alarming figure will heap fresh pressure on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who wants to ramp up the use of military bases to house asylum seekers.
It is up from the 32,041 who had been in hotels in June and 29,561 in the twelve months to June 2024.
And it is higher than the number in March 2024 – before Labour took office.
Alarmingly for ministers, new Home Office figures show the department is struggling to move migrants into “dispersal accommodation” – houses, flats and bedsit. This was a key part of their plan when they came into Government.
Some 66,232 are living in communities across Britain, down from 66,683 in the year to March 2025.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are furious at the levels of illegal migrants and asylum hotels.
“There are now fewer than 200 in use and we will close every single one.
“Work is well underway to move illegal migrants into military bases to ease pressure on communities across the country.
“And that’s why last week we set out the most sweeping reforms in modern times to restore order and control to our borders.
“We will remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to the UK and make it easier to remove and deport them.”
Hotels cost a staggering £144.98 per person per night. Accommodation at the former military base in Wethersfield, Essex, costs £132 per person per night.
More than 90% of councils will be housing asylum seekers by the end of this year, the Sunday Express has revealed.
Almost 40,000 people are set to be given taxpayer-funded homes in London, the East of England, South East England, and South West England as ministers ramp up efforts to close migrant hotels.
In total, the Home Office needs to find dispersal accommodation for more than 66,000 asylum seekers. And current plans only allow for enough space for another 46,640, creating a shortfall of almost 20,000.
The Home Office is exploring the use of military bases and abandoned properties to prevent hotels being taken over.
But the number of cash-strapped local authorities housing asylum seekers has increased from 82% in the Summer and is projected to hit 92% “by the year’s end”.
