A major report shown to The Mirror calls on ministers to bring in a ‘dividend’ for communities that host asylum hotels, with locals saying they are a ‘visible symbol of unfairness’
Savings from closing asylum hotels must be invested back into affected communities to help ease tensions, a major study has concluded.
Ministers have been warned that the hotels have become “a really visible symbol of unfairness”, with tension spilling into violence over the past two years. The study, based on conversations with people in six areas affected by rioting or protests, found that while a majority of people are not anti-asylum seekers, the accommodation system has become a flashpoint.
Think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said the Government should offer a dividend to communities that have hosted asylum hotels. Keir Starmer has also been urged to bring back a Gordon Brown-era fund to help areas with an influx of migrants improve services and infrastructure.
Dr Lucy Mort, who led the research, told The Mirror: “I think from the media, you would just assume that everyone virulently hates asylum seekers. And I don’t think it is the case that everyone doesn’t want asylum seekers in their area.
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“Now there are people that do, but there are lots of people who are much more balanced in their view. I think asylum hotels are a problem because often they’re in areas where people are saying their local high street is going downhill, or the cost of living is biting, or they’re struggling. At the same time, these asylum hotels are opening and they’re a really visible symbol of that unfairness that people are feeling.”
The Government has pledged to close all remaining asylum hotels – the use of which were ramped up under the Tories – by 2029. But Mr Starmer has said he wants to go faster, with the Government looking at expanding the use of military sites to house people.
In April this year there were around 185 asylum hotels across the UK, down from a peak of 400. Dr Mort said ministers should look at ways of rewarding communities that have hosted asylum hotels. “What would be really good is to start seeing that the areas that have hosted asylum hotels are able to see some kind of thanks or benefit for having had that.
“Because there are a lot of assets where they feel they’ve lost – somewhere where they might be able to go and spend time or go and celebrate, and people that worked in hotels are losing their jobs. And I think there needs to be some kind of acknowledgment of that, with investment put in, not just this feeling of things being taken away.”
Dr Mort said the Government could consider bringing back the Migration Impact Fund. This was a £35million pot of money introduced in 2009, but scrapped by the coalition Government, to help areas with high levels of migration to absorb the new arrivals. This, she said, could be used for services like English language support and programmes to help people integrate.
“Now communities don’t see anything like that in the same way in terms of a dedicated fund that can support local authorities and communities and do the work that helps cohesion,” Dr Mort said. “So one of the things that we recommend is reinstating a migration impacts fund that would see funding go into those communities.”
The IPPR report also says that communication about asylum accommodation must be clearer, as many areas do not feel like they have been consulted. A lack of clear information allows rumours and misinformation to spread, it found.
It drew from focus groups across six areas in England – Liverpool, Plymouth, Hillingdon, Derby, Tamworth and Wakefield. One respondent in Tamworth said poor planning had increased the chances of tensions, stating: “If you’ve got a group of asylum seekers, why put them in the centre of the community, which is already a tinderbox … You might as well just put a big target on it.”
In all the areas, the report found, communication about asylum hotel was either too limited, too late or unclear. The IPPR called for efforts to close hotels to be sped up, with more temporary accommodation for both asylum seekers and local residents.
Participant Mark Curl, 65, from Hillingdon, told The Mirror he had experienced homelessness himself, and does not feel the current system is working for anyone.
“People think that asylum seekers are living this life of luxury, with room service in hotels, but they’re not,” he said. “It feels like no one’s listening, and it’s not fair.”
Marley Morris, associate director for migration, trade and communities at IPPR, said: “If we want to reduce tensions, we need to transform how the asylum system works in practice. That means transitioning away from asylum hotels and towards investment in community-based housing that delivers a long-term asset for local residents.”
