The government will end a contract worth £2bn a year with one of the largest providers of hotel asylum accommodation after the Home Office said an audit identified concerns about the company’s performance.
Stay Belvedere Hotels (SBHL) provides around a quarter of Home Office asylum accommodation across 51 hotels in England and Wales, and also operates Napier Barracks in Kent – which houses people awaiting asylum decisions and is due to close in September.
The Home Office said a review of SBHL – which signed a contract with the previous government in 2019 – found issues with its behaviour as a supplier, though did not provide specific examples.
BBC News has approached the company for comment.
SBHL’s website says it offers a range of pastoral and welfare services that exceed the requirements of its contracts and ensure those staying in its hotels are treated with dignity.
Border security and asylum minister Angela Eagle said the decision had been taken because of greater oversight of asylum accommodation.
“We have made the decision to remove Stay Belvedere Hotels from the Home Office supply chain and will not hesitate to take further action to ensure Home Office contracts deliver for the UK,” she said.
The earliest point which the Home Office can exit the contract with SBHL without payment of break cost is in September of next year.
It is unclear where those they are housing will go when it does end.
The latest published immigration statistics from December 2024 show there were 38,079 asylum seekers in hotel accommodation, lower than the peak of 56,042 at the end of September 2023.
Ministry of Justice data also shows that almost 42,000 asylum seekers are waiting for an appeal hearing after their initial claims were rejected by the Home Office.
The government says it is committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers but, speaking to Times Radio on Tuesday, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said he would not provide a “timeline” on achieving that goal.
The government is looking at plans for failed asylum seekers whose appeals have been exhausted to possibly be sent to the Balkans.
More than 5,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel on small boats so far this year, according to latest figures.
In 2024 as a whole, 36,816 were detected making the dangerous crossing in small boats.
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