Labour has been accused of “encouraging illegal migrants to disappear in Britain” after Home Office figures showed more than 93,000 asylum seekers are being housed in accommodation across the country at taxpayers’ expense.
The data showed that more than 73,000 asylum seekers were living in “non-hotel accommodation” in the 12 months to June 2026. The figure was 3 per cent higher than at the end of June 2025 and accounted for 78 per cent of all asylum seekers accommodated in the UK.
A further 17 per cent remained in hotels, as the government continues its policy of moving asylum seekers away from hotels and into dispersed accommodation across the country.
The figures have prompted a renewed political confrontation over the government’s handling of the asylum system, with the Conservatives arguing that the expansion of dispersed accommodation risks making it harder to track people whose claims have been rejected or who are liable for removal.
Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, said Labour was effectively making it easier for migrants to disappear from the authorities.
“Labour are moving illegal immigrants out of hotels and into flats in your building, and now they are telling them to go and disappear without a trace.
“More than 93,000 people are now being housed at the taxpayer’s expense, and the number crammed into dispersal accommodation has climbed by 12 per cent under Labour.
“Illegal immigrants should be deported in the first place, and we should certainly not be encouraging them to just disappear.
“The next Conservative government would deport every illegal immigrant, leaving the ECHR and any other obligation that stands in the way in order to get it done, because the surest way to empty the accommodation is to make plain that nobody who crosses the Channel gets to stay.”
The government has been attempting to reduce its reliance on hotels, which have become one of the most politically contentious and expensive elements of the asylum accommodation system.
The latest figures nevertheless underline the scale of the accommodation network now required to house people while their claims are processed.
The increase in dispersed accommodation comes as ministers seek to move away from hotels and use alternative properties, including houses in multiple occupation and former military sites.
The Conservatives have argued that the policy is transferring the burden of the asylum system from hotels into residential communities, while Labour has maintained that reducing hotel use is necessary to bring down costs and restore capacity to the wider asylum system.
The figures are likely to intensify pressure on ministers over both the cost of accommodating asylum seekers and the government’s ability to enforce immigration decisions.
For Labour, the challenge is to demonstrate that the reduction in hotel accommodation represents a genuine improvement rather than simply a relocation of the pressure from large, visible sites into communities across Britain.
For the Conservatives, the figures provide further ammunition for their argument that the accommodation system cannot be sustainably reduced without a substantial increase in removals and tighter control over illegal migration.
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