On 24 June the Conservative MP Andrew Snowden asked five questions: how many properties under the asylum accommodation contract are houses in multiple occupation (HMOs); how many people each one holds on average; how many properties used since July 2024 had no valid HMO licence when people moved in; how many asylum seekers live in unlicensed properties now; and whether any do.
Alex Norris, then the minister for border security and asylum, gave one answer to all five on 30 June. The department "does not publish figures" for the number of HMOs, "does not publish data on the average number of individuals accommodated per property type", and "does not hold a centrally published record" of properties occupied without a valid licence. He said providers are contractually required to hold licences where needed and that the Home Office works with councils "to monitor compliance". The questions on how many people live in unlicensed properties now were not answered with any figure.
In January Norris had refused a request to publish regular council level data on HMO numbers, capacity and length of use, citing a "longstanding policy not to disclose information about sites which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office."
Licensing is the main local check on overcrowded shared housing. In England a mandatory licence is needed where five or more people from two or more households share facilities, and councils can extend licensing to smaller properties. In 2024 the government tried to exempt asylum accommodation from HMO licensing for two years. It dropped the plan in February 2024, days before a judicial review brought by eight asylum seekers was due to be heard, and was ordered to pay their costs.
The financial case for houses and flats is strong on the department’s own figures. The Home Affairs Committee reported in October 2025 that the Home Office spent £4 billion on asylum support in 2024/25, £2.1 billion of it on hotels. Home Office estimates from June 2025 put dispersal accommodation at £23.25 per person per night, against £144.98 in contingency hotels.
The same department is now pursuing former military sites again. On 29 June Norris named MoD Barnham, MoD Bicester and MoD Linton on Ouse as sites that "could eventually provide accommodation for around 3,750 asylum seekers, subject to feasibility assessments, planning and the necessary approvals." He said Crowborough’s use would be extended and Wethersfield expanded in "both the capacity and duration of use". Cameron Barracks in Scotland was dropped after "detailed assessments". The statement gave no cost or saving figures.
The last large sites programme did not deliver the savings it promised. In March 2024 the National Audit Office found the Home Office had originally expected large sites to be about £94 million cheaper than hotels, but its latest estimates suggested they would cost £46 million more. Estimated setup costs had risen from £5 million a site to £49 million at Wethersfield and £27 million at Scampton. At the end of January 2024 Wethersfield held 576 people against an expected 1,445. In September 2024 the Home Office cancelled Scampton as not value for money, losing £48.5 million it had invested there.
Bicester is now the furthest advanced. The Home Office applied on 2 September under the urgent Crown development procedure, which sends the decision to the Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, rather than to Cherwell District Council. The public had ten days to comment, and the council said it was "not consulted on these plans." The application is for up to 1,256 single adult men in modular units for at least ten years, with no decommissioning plans. Anna Turley took over as Home Office minister on 21 July. On 20 and 21 October she answered a run of questions with the same line: "No final decision has been taken." That included a question on what policing the site would need.
Policing is a cost the accommodation budget does not show. The Home Office grant for large sites covers additional costs such as overtime and mutual aid. It excludes the cost of officers policing a site in their normal duties, and it excludes hotels and dispersed accommodation entirely. In January 2026 Sussex’s police and crime commissioner, Katy Bourne, estimated the cost of policing Crowborough at £5.6 million over the next 12 months. The Home Office later paid £795,899 towards Sussex Police’s costs up to March 2026.
Sussex Police recorded 65 incidents connected with the camp from January to 25 August 2026, excluding administrative entries, in a disclosure updated in September. Five were graded as emergencies. The largest groups were suspicious circumstances or insecure premises (14), concern for safety (7) and other crime (7), and six were protests. The force’s records cover residents, staff and members of the public, as victims or suspects, so the figures are not a count of offences by asylum seekers. In the same disclosure the force withheld its policing costs, saying they were intended for future publication, and declined to give officer hours.
Detected arrivals via illegal entry routes fell 22 per cent to 38,086 in the year to June 2026, including 33,374 by small boat, down 23 per cent. The total on asylum support fell 12 per cent to 93,293, of whom 4,204 received cash support only.