UNITED KINGDOM — The Home Office is seeking planning permission for new asylum seeker accommodations at three former military sites and is proposing extensions for two existing facilities. The new sites include MOD Bicester in Oxfordshire, RAF Barnham in Suffolk, and RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire.

The department stated these three new sites could house 3,750 asylum claimants. It also hopes to extend the use of the Crowborough site in East Sussex until 2030 and the Wethersfield site in Essex beyond 2027. Capacity at Wethersfield is planned to increase by 400, bringing its total to 1,200 men.

Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, criticized the plan. "As the government's own spending watchdog has said, barracks actually cost more money overall than hotels. We know from experience they also isolate people from local communities and essential services, as they are often miles away from the nearest towns, so people who have fled war and persecution cannot find any security or stability while they apply for asylum," Hussain said.

Calum Miller, the Lib Dem MP for Bicester and Woodstock, described the proposal as looking "like a political fix." He stated, "Ministers say they are closing asylum hotels, but they appear to be replacing one costly and unsuitable model with another, without giving local communities the answers they deserve."

Provisional Home Office figures indicate a total of 11,267 small boat arrivals in 2026, a decrease of 39% compared to the equivalent point last year. Figures from March showed 20,885 people were housed in UK hotels awaiting asylum decisions, a 35% reduction from the 32,326 individuals recorded a year prior. The total number of asylum seekers in UK hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023.

The Home Office reported the closure of 20 additional asylum hotels, including the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex. Prime Minister Keir Starmer attributed the closures to a decrease in Channel crossings. "On the crossings across the Channel, which so many people are concerned about, understandably, we've brought those numbers down," Starmer said. "So the steps we've taken are beginning to pay off, and at the same time, asylum hotels are closing. The last two are linked because with less people crossing the channel, there are less people who need to be housed."