Hotels out, mega-sites in as Labour’s £150m asylum plan sparks fresh community backlash
The government will spend £150m of taxpayers’ money on additional large sites to accommodate asylum seekers, as ministers pursue their pledge to close asylum hotels amid mounting opposition from communities facing new accommodation plans. The investment, set out in the Treasury’s Budget documents, allocates £150m in capital funding for 2027-28 to develop alternative sites intended to reduce the government’s reliance on hotels, which have become a politically contentious and expensive feature of Britain’s asylum system. “The Government is providing £150million capital investment in 2027-2028 to fund additional large sites to accommodate asylum seekers and facilitate the Government’s commitment to end the use of asylum hotels,” the Treasury said. The Home Office maintains that moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation will save money. A spokesman has previously said the…