In Data: What is fuelling protests outside UK asylum hotels?

LONDON - The use of hotels to house asylum seekers has become a major flashpoint in Britain as record numbers of people arrive in small boats from France and with broader tensions flaring over immigration.

More than 111,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025, a 14% rise on the previous 12 months.

Until 2020, asylum seekers were generally housed in private rental accommodation. But a huge backlog in processing claims, compounded by a shortage of housing, has forced the government to increasingly rely on hotels, costing billions of pounds a year.

About 32,000 migrants are accommodated in some 200 hotels across the country. These have become a focus for protests during a politically charged summer.

The government has a legal duty to house asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.

But critics say putting them in hotels places local communities at risk from potential criminal acts. The practice has also provoked anger at a time when many Britons struggle with high living costs.

Migrant rights groups accuse populist politicians, led by Nigel Farage of the right-wing Reform UK party, of exploiting the issue for their own gains and stoking tensions.

With Reform UK leading opinion polls, the government is keen to accelerate the closure of asylum hotels.

Cost is another concern. Hotels are up to six times more expensive than other types of accommodation, according to the Migration Observatory, a research centre.

One option under consideration is moving asylum seekers to accommodation on industrial sites and military bases.

The recent wave of protests started outside a hotel housing asylum seekers near London in July after an Ethiopian housed there was charged with sexual assault. He has since been convicted.

Rioters also attacked asylum hotels last year when a British man, who killed three young girls, was wrongly identified online as a migrant.

Asylum seekers are not allowed to work while their claims are assessed and cannot choose where they are housed.

Many are unsettled by the protests. They say asylum hotels are anything but luxurious with stressful, cramped conditions and little privacy.

A key factor fuelling tensions is the rising number of people arriving on small boats from France - more than 28,000 so far this year, a 46% rise on the same period in 2024.

Reform UK says they are economic migrants and should be deported.

But campaigners say many have fled war or persecution in countries like Sudan, Eritrea and Syria.

Contrary to the picture painted in some media, Britain does not receive more asylum seekers than other European countries.

Germany saw twice as many claims in the year to March 2025. Numbers in Spain, France and Italy were also higher.

But Britain is unusual in its heavy reliance on hotels.

In Germany, many asylum seekers stay in large reception centres with dormitory-style accommodation. Centres in Spain often resemble hostels, while asylum seekers in Sweden are mostly housed in shared flats.

But faced with rising numbers, other European countries are also turning to temporary venues such as sports and events halls, former school buildings and boats.

(Reporting by Emma Batha; Editing by Jon Hemming.)