Conservatives spin asylum hotel numbers

Conservatives spin the asylum hotel story; the truth is more complex

Last Updated: August 24, 2025By Mike Sivier

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The Conservatives have made a bold claim – but is it accurate?

Here’s the X post they published:

When the Conservatives were in office, we halved the number of illegal immigrants in hotels and shut nearly 200 sites.

At the pace we were going, the hotels would already be gone.

Under Labour it will take 70 years. pic.twitter.com/RjbK2Dvbk9

— Conservatives (@Conservatives) August 22, 2025

Let’s unpack that — carefully, fact by fact.

1. The “halving” was selective

Yes, under the Conservative government, the number of asylum seekers in hotels fell from 56,042 at the end of September 2023 to 29,585 by June 2024. That’s a 47 per cent reduction. But it’s not the full story.

The hotels that were closed were the easiest to close: smaller sites, short-term contracts, or hotels in councils that co-operated(1). Large, long-term, high-demand hotels — often in areas where dispersal housing was scarce — remained open.

So while the number of sites decreased, the system still relied heavily on hotels. Closing “easy” hotels doesn’t magically resolve a national accommodation backlog.

2. The number of people in hotels didn’t halve

Even after these closures, tens of thousands of asylum seekers were still in hotels(2). The system’s core structural reliance remained unchanged. It’s misleading to suggest that the Conservative government eliminated the problem — they only trimmed the edges.

3. Labour inherited pressure, that party didn’t invent it

Since Labour took office in July 2024, the number of asylum seekers in hotels has risen slightly from 29,585 to 32,059, an increase of about eight per cent.

Context matters: the mild spring and summer of 2025 encouraged a spike in small boat crossings, putting additional pressure on the system(3). Labour is managing this influx while planning a sustainable reduction in hotel reliance, not spinning headlines.

4. The “70 years” claim is pure hyperbole

Labour’s plan is to end the use of hotels by 2029, through:

Expanding dispersal housing, including block-leased properties and local-authority partnerships.
Increasing asylum processing capacity to reduce bottlenecks.
Operationalising bilateral returns agreements.

Claiming that ending hotel reliance will take 70 years ignores both the timeline and Labour’s clear operational strategy(4).

5. The bigger picture

Here are the facts in easy-to-handle bullet points:

Hotels were never intended as permanent solutions. They became a stopgap under Tory oversight.
Conservative spin highlights short-term reductions while ignoring systemic pressures.
Public perception suffers when political messaging oversimplifies complex operational realities.

The facts are clear: Labour inherited a backlog, is seeing minor fluctuations due to rising arrivals, and has a five-year plan to end hotel reliance.

Political spin should not obscure operational reality.

References / Footnotes