At a glance
Asylum seekers are set to be offered £100 a week to leave taxpayer-funded hotels, it has been claimed
The proposal to introduce the payment would allow migrants to use the money to live with a family or an individual they know in the UK, the Telegraph has reported
Government denies it is being considered to reduce the reliance on hotels
Asylum seekers are set to be offered £100 a week to leave taxpayer-funded hotels, according to reports.
Home Office officials are said to be proposing an initiative that would allow migrants to use the money to live with a family or an individual they know in the UK.
The weekly sum would be provided on top of taxpayer-funded support for living costs of £49.18 a week, The Daily Telegraph said.
Labour ministers on Monday denied they are considering it as one of several options to reduce the reliance on hotels after a summer of protests outside them.
But the newspaper said if trialled next year, the proposal could cut the bill for housing asylum seekers to a seventh of the current cost.
More than 32,000 migrants were housed in 200 hotels in June 2025 at an average cost of £145 per night or £1,015 a week. That compares with £23.25 a night for other “dispersal” accommodation in communities. The total bill for asylum hotels is £5.5m a day, or £2.1bn a year.
A source told the newspaper: “It’s important that officials provide advice to ministers that sets out a range of options but it doesn’t mean ministers will pursue every option.”
Officials are offering asylum seekers of nationalities whose applications are routinely rejected up to £3,000 through a voluntary returns scheme, the Telegraph added.
Among those targeted are Albanians, Bangladeshis, Brazilians, Chinese, Indians, Nigerians and Pakistanis.
It mirrors a similar scheme run by the Danish government that offered Syrian migrants up to £24,000 to return after the December 2024 fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The idea of handing out taxpayers’ hard-earned money to people who illegally entered the country is morally repugnant.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “There are no plans for this to happen.
“The government is furious about the number of illegal migrants in this country and in hotels. That is why we will close every single asylum hotel.”
