Asylum hotel migrant evictions set to begin in the spring

Evictions of migrants living in asylum hotels are set to start in the spring, Sky News understands.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is also expected to end the government's legal duty to automatically support destitute asylum seekers. A Home Office source told The i Paper it would allow the minister to remove accommodation and weekly allowances from some migrants.

It is understood Ms Mahmood will target asylum seekers who can support themselves financially but choose not to, those who have a right to work, those who break the law or are working illegally and those who refuse an order to leave the country. The government hopes the move will help to speed up asylum hotel closures this year, with Ms Mahmood looking at further shutdowns by April.

Home Office figures from November showed 36,273 people were staying in temporary accommodation in September, while waiting for a decision on their asylum claims. That marked an increase of 13% compared with June.

The issue became national news last year in the wake of demonstrations in Epping, Essex, where a series of protests were held over the summer over the sex offender and Ethiopian national, Hadush Kebatu. The government has pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers entirely by 2029, and insists it has halved the number of hotels in use since it came to power, from 400 down to around 200.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC on Sunday: "I want us to close hotels. I think over coming months you'll see evidence of that." Read more:Who says what on asylum hotels: Numbers, protesters and governmentPeople disappearing 'daily' from asylum hotels, says whistleblower Other measures are set to be introduced, including beginning removals to Syria - now seen as safer by ministers following the revolution that led to the fall of the Assad regime in 2024.

Alternative housing for asylum seekers is expected to involve former military barracks, multiple-occupation houses, known as HMOs, and a council housing pilot. The government is also due to expand its 'one-in, one-out' returns deal with France and strike a new one with Germany..