Migrant hotel stays are set to be extended as record numbers appeal against rejected asylum claims.
Asylum seekers who are refused sanctuary in Britain are now seeing their appeals take an average of over a year - 54 weeks - to be heard.
There were 50,976 outstanding appeals as of March, which is almost double the number compared to 2024 and seven times higher than in 2023, figures show.
It is the highest the backlog has ever been and comes on top of the almost 79,000 asylum claims awaiting an initial decision.
Immigration barrister Colin Yeo told The Times that the time frame is likely to be even longer because the 54 weeks refers to cases that entered the system in 2024 when the appeals backlog was 27,133.
Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said: "While we welcome the Government’s continued attempt to remedy a broken asylum system, more needs to be done to ensure right first-time decision making, so a new growing backlog is not created in a different part of the system.”
A third of all asylum cases, about 25,000 people in the last year, have been waiting for more than 12 months on top of the amount of time they waited for an initial decision on their claim.
It means that tens of thousands are likely waiting more than two years for an outcome and comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged this month to move all asylum seekers out of hotels by 2029.
People who remain in Britain for longer have a better chance of avoiding deportation because they acquire rights that they can use to block removal, such as Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects someone's relationships formed while in a country.
The sharp rise in asylum appeals has partly been caused by the significant decline in the success rate of initial claims.
Just 43% of asylum applications were granted in the first three months of 2025, down from 75% in 2023.
It comes as a record number of people are crossing the English Channel in small boats.
More than 1,000 migrants arrived in the UK over the weekend, according to Home Office figures.
It takes the total to 18,400 so far this year - 45% more than at this point in 2024.
Asylum seekers are given accommodation, often in taxpayer-funded hotels, and a £50 weekly allowance, if the Home Office rules that they would otherwise be destitute.
There were 106,771 asylum seekers receiving support in Britain at the end of March. About a third (32,345) were in hotels at a cost of £144 per night and 66,683 in other accommodation, such as houses, bedsits and self-contained flats, which costs an average of £14 per night.
A mandatory 24-week deadline for all asylum appeals be heard is being introduced through the government's Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. However, this is unlikely to take effect until the end of the year.
The government has also accelerated the number of initial asylum claims being assessed, processing about 11,000 a month.
But this has raised concerns about the quality of the decisions amid signs that more cases are being overturned on appeal.
Cash-strapped councils have also expressed worries as struggling social services departments have to pick up the slack.
Hillingdon in west London has said it is considering legal action against the Home Office over the skyrocketing cost of supporting asylum seekers without additional Government funding.
The borough, which has had to make £34 million of cuts this year, says it is seeing hundreds of people evicted on to the streets every month as the government works through the backlog.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We inherited an asylum system under exceptional pressure and we make no apologies for taking the necessary and immediate action to restore order, increasing asylum decision making and returning nearly 30,000 people with no right to be here.”
