The Home Office has said new-build properties "should never house asylum seekers", despite plans to house up to 83 migrants in a rural Shropshire village development.
These Stoke Heath plans, highlighted by Conservative MP Mark Pritchard in June, face strong local opposition from residents arguing the homes should be for locals.
A Home Office spokesperson stated "robust processes" are now in place to ensure new-build sites like Stoke Heath "can never be considered again". However, the Shropshire development predates a new Home Secretary policy advising against housing asylum seekers in new-builds to avoid social tensions.
As reported by The Sun, residents learned outsourcing firm Serco acquired 21 homes for asylum seekers. Labour has pledged to end asylum hotel use by the next election, favouring community housing and former military barracks.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has instructed contractors, such as Serco, to not source housing that might be perceived as “luxurious” or is near schools or nurseries.
Asylum seekers are housed by the Home Office until they have their claims decided.
Charlotte Khan, head of advocacy at refugee charity Care4Calais, said the new Home Office ban “has nothing to do with homes, but is once again about politicians in this country treating people seeking sanctuary like second-class humans.”
She added: “People coming here to claim sanctuary are doing so to find safety, not temporary asylum accommodation, the majority of which is old, dilapidated former hotels, ex-military camps and houses of multiple occupancy with very basic amenities.
“The truth is, the only benefactors from the UK’s asylum accommodation system are the super-rich owners of the companies the government has handed the contracts to.”
Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at Refugee Council, said asylum accommodation “should be a decent standard, have appropriate facilities and provide value for money to the taxpayer, in the same way that we would expect with housing provided for any vulnerable group”.
He added: “In particular, we should ensure that refugee children are not placed in housing far from schools, which would disrupt their education. Quickly and accurately processing asylum applications would be the best way to lower costs by reducing the number of refugees stuck in accommodation.”
Earlier this week, the Home Office announced that asylum seekers will be made to pay up to £10,000 towards the cost of their accommodation and support once they start earning.
It is one of a number of policies aimed at tackling the migrant crisis introduced in the Immigration and Asylum Bill.
The news comes as new figures show the number of migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in the first half of the year fell sharply compared with the same period in 2025.
Some 11,884 migrants arrived in the six months from the start of January to the end of June, according to the latest Home Office data.
This is 41% lower than the total that had reached the UK by this point last year, which was 19,982.
It is also down 12% on the 13,489 who arrived in the first six months of 2024.
The steep drop is likely to reflect a number of factors including the weather, the supply of small boat parts, Government policy, and the flow of migrants into Europe from elsewhere in the world.
In April, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year agreement with French authorities to pay £662 million to support beach patrols as part of efforts to drive down arrivals.
Ms Mahmood is also seeking to overhaul the asylum system to deter crossings and deport people easier, including proposed changes to make refugee status temporary.
