Number of asylum seekers housed in hotels drops - with a rise in small boat arrivals

The number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels across the UK has dropped to the lowest level for 18 months, new data shows.

The number of asylum claims also fell by 4% in 2025, from 104,000 to 101,000 - despite a 13% rise in small boat arrivals.

There are 30,657 people seeking asylum being housed in hotels, down from 56,018 under the previous Tory government at the end of September 2023, Home Office figures published on Thursday reveal.

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However, the current number of asylum seekers in hotels remains slightly higher than when Labour took office, when there were 29,561 people in government-funded hotel housing.

There were 20% fewer asylum seekers in hotels at the end of 2025 compared with the end of the previous year - the three months from September to December saw a 15% drop.

The Home Office has said this is saving the taxpayer £620m a year in costs, with hotel housing costing around £5,377,991,249 in 202/24, and falling to £4,757,226,306 in 2024/25.

Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers completely by the end of the parliament, in 2029.

Housing asylum seekers in hotels has proved controversial, with protests held outside some, such as the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.

The number of people waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim also nearly halved, falling from 124,802 as of 31 December 2024, to 64,426 the following year. The Home Office has said this significant drop is in part due to the use of AI tools, such as those able to summarise cases.

Overall number of returns falls - but rise in enforced returns

The total number of people returned from the UK fell marginally in 2025, from 57,912 in 2024, to 56,197 in 2025.

But the number of enforced returns rose 20% on last year, and the highest since 2017, rising from 8,169 to 9,914.

However, it should be noted that there were more enforced returns in each year between 2004 and 2017.

The number of voluntary returns rose, from 26,589 to 28,004, the highest total since 2016.

There were also more than 10,000 "assisted returns", up 49% on 2024. Assisted returns are a subset of voluntary returns in which the government effectively pays for somebody to leave.

There were the highest number of assisted returns on records going back to 2004.

Foreign national offenders made up 10% of all returns in 2025, with more than 5,600 removed.

What about legal migration?

There was a 13% drop in the number of study, work or family visas granted in 2025 compared with the previous year, with 757,000 of these issued, down from 874,000 in 2024.

The number of study visas issued actually rose in 2025 by 2.4%, but the overall decrease is due to a 29% fall in work visas and a 22% decrease in family visas.

The refusal rate for all visa applications was also the highest it has been since 2007, at 18%. The proportion of work visa applications has almost doubled in two years, rising to nearly 12% in 2025, up from around 6% in 2023.

How has the government responded?

Reacting to the figures, a Home Office spokesperson said: "These statistics show real progress as we restore order and control to our borders.

"We have removed nearly 60,000 illegal migrants, numbers in asylum hotels are down, law enforcement action against people smugglers is at record levels, and we are bearing down on the asylum backlog.

"But we must go further. The number of people crossing the Channel is too high, and too many hotels remain in use.

"That is why the home secretary is introducing sweeping reforms to tackle the pull factors drawing illegal migrants to Britain, and we are ramping up removals of those with no right to be here."

(c) Sky News 2026: Number of asylum seekers housed in hotels drops - with a rise in small boat arrivals