UK Government Moves Asylum Seekers From Hotels to Military Bases Amid Cost Backlash

The UK government is relocating around 900 male asylum seekers from hotels to two former military sites—Cameron Barracks in Inverness, Scotland, and Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex—starting next month.

“The UK Labour Party has revealed plans to house 900 male asylum seekers at two military sites—Cameron Barracks in Inverness and Crowborough army training camp in East Sussex—as part of efforts to end the use of hotels for migrant accommodation”

Daily Mail

This move aims to phase out the use of hotels after criticism over costs and mismanagement.

Daily Mail

Currently, hotels accommodate about 32,000 people, down from more than 56,000 in 2023.

The Ministry of Defence is helping to accelerate hotel closures while new alternatives are being prepared.

Multiple sources note that this change responds to political and financial backlash.

Labour ministers describe it as fixing an inherited system based on long hotel contracts.

Others highlight the effort to reduce spending and manage pressures from increasing small-boat arrivals.

Cost is the driving force behind the pivot.

Across sources, MPs and committees slam the hotel-heavy system as “failed, chaotic and expensive.”

The Independent

The Home Office is accused of wasting billions through flawed contracts.

Estimates suggest accommodation contracts have surged from £4.5bn to £15.3bn over 2019–2029.

Some reports add that around three-quarters of asylum accommodation costs go on hotels even though most asylum seekers don’t live in them.

Tabloid coverage zeroes in on poor contract management, excessive profits for providers, and the lack of community impact assessments.

Mainstream outlets emphasize the cross-party committee rebuke and the overall fiscal bloat.

Implementation will rely on former military sites alongside other options.

“A TikTok user posted several dramatic videos depicting natural disasters, including a highly viewed clip showing what looks like the eye of a hurricane from a passenger plane”

BBC

Ministers are exploring modular and prefabricated buildings and creating up to 10,000 places on military or industrial land.

The Ministry of Defence coordinates facilities, security, and local authority involvement.

Yet concerns persist: past barracks like Napier and Penally saw poor conditions and inadequate support.

Even ministers concede barracks are not luxurious and can sometimes be more expensive than hotels.

This raises questions about suitability and value for money despite the urgency to end hotel use.

Scale remains the constraint: roughly 900 places address only a fraction of the circa-32,000 people in hotels, and arrivals continue as small-boat crossings approach record levels.

Policy levers diverge across accounts—some ministers stress ramping up removals and deterrence, while others stress processing reforms and dispersal housing.

The i Paper

Timelines are also muddied: some reporting references Labour’s aim to end hotel use by the next election or by 2029, while noting that Rishi Sunak had pushed for a much faster one-year endgame under the previous administration.

At the same time, long hotel contracts running to 2029 are cited as a structural hurdle the new government says it inherited.

The policy also sits within wider budget politics.

“The Labour government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the next election”

The Herald

While some outlets stress immediate savings and public-order benefits from closing hotels, others emphasize systemic waste and rising liabilities.

The Herald

One report puts current hotel spending at £2.1bn per year.

Broader fiscal choices—from raising taxes on high earners and certain sectors to defining protections for working people—form the backdrop to cost-cutting drives across departments.

Some coverage is largely adjacent to the asylum issue.