Should migrant hotels be open to homeless people for food and shelter?
Asylum hotels are Home Office contingency accommodation, run by contractors, for asylum seekers awaiting a decision. Homeless people are not eligible to use them, and councils house homeless households through separate duties. Fewer than 160 asylum hotels remain after closures in 2026, and the government has pledged to end their use by 2029. Meanwhile, a record 135,580 households in England were in temporary accommodation at the end of March 2026.
7 Opinions
Migrant hotels shouldn't exist but I'd rather prioritise existing homeless people ahead of imported tax drains.
Migrant hotels shouldn’t exist
They should be closed full stop
Reminder: These are two distinct groups of people.
No. There should be different solutions to homelessness, that are not short term and are more cost effective than utilising hotels in such a way. The hotels shouldn't be used for illegall migrants or the homeless.
I mean, fundamentally, the answer should be yes because they are taxpayer funded beds paid for to house those without permanent residency. The only issue is that these migrants hotels are funded by the Home Office... Tackling homelessness is not within their remit. So I can see this just being a victim of red tape. Realistically though, long term we need to build proper social housing, not shove the homeless into closing asylum hotels for a cheap headline but temporary fix..
Nobody should be homeless in Britain in 2026 The country cannot continue to absolve itself of responsibility for making it a reality