MINISTERS have trumpeted the closure of 11 migrant hotels – leaving only 190 to go.
The Government said the shutdowns mark the start of an accelerated push to end the use of hotels for illegal migrants before the next election.
It comes as the small boat crisis shows no sign of abating, with more than 5,000 people arriving in 2026Credit: Getty
Home Secretary Shabana MahmoodCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
More closures are promised in the coming weeks, with sites being handed back to local communities.
But the scale of the system remains vast after years of soaring demand and costs.
At its peak, around 400 hotels were in use, costing taxpayers up to £9million a day.
Numbers have now fallen to just under 190.
Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris said: “Hotels were meant to be a short term stop gap under the previous government, but they spiralled out of control – costing taxpayers billions and dumping the consequences on local communities.
“We are shutting them down by moving people into more basic accommodation, scaling up large sites, removing record numbers of people with no right to remain.
“This is about restoring control, ending waste, and handing hotels back to the community for good.”
The latest closures alone are expected to save around £65million a year.
Ministers are instead shifting migrants into large, basic sites such as military barracks.
Around 350 have already been moved to a camp in Crowborough, which opened three months ago.
Hotels shut in the latest wave include the Holiday Inn Heathrow, the Britannia Hotel in Wolverhampton and Banbury House Hotel in Oxfordshire.
The Tories hit back that there are now more asylum seekers in hotels than at the election, accusing ministers of shifting people into flats to mask the true scale.
Shadow Home Secretary said: “The truth is the most recent figures show there are more asylum seekers in hotels than at the time of the election. And that’s despite the government shunting people from hotels into residential apartments to hide what is going on.
“Those apartments are then not available for young people struggling to get on the housing ladder.”
It comes as the small boat crisis shows no sign of abating, with more than 5,000 people arriving in 2026.
And nearly 70,000 crossed the Channel since Sir took power despite his repeated promises to “smash the gangs”.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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