The Conservative party chair, Kevin Hollinrake, accepted thousands of pounds worth of hospitality from a company that converts family homes into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) for asylum seekers, official records show.
According to the MPs’ register of interests, Living Redefined covered £2,000 worth of flights, hotel accommodation and dinner for Hollinrake and a family member to attend a property conference in the south of France earlier this year. The entry, registered in April 2025, lists the hospitality as support for “attendance at a conference”.
The company presents itself as a lucrative route for landlords to enter the asylum system accommodation market. On its website, Living Redefined says it has provided the Home Office with 84 properties offering 352 bedspaces across the Midlands and east of England, usually with lease agreements under five years.
The company boasts on Instagram of turning a two-bedroom house in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, into a five-bed HMO, claiming the conversion generated an annual profit of £27,000 equivalent to a 32% return on investment.
The firm describes itself as working “closely with the Home Office” on accommodation supply. But in response to questions from the Guardian, Living Redefined said it did not hold any Home Office contracts. A spokesperson said the company “matches landlords with social housing providers to provide homes for social use” and had invited Hollinrake in his then capacity as shadow housing secretary to attend the international property conference MIPIM in Cannes.
The spokesperson added: “Attendees included developers, investors, architects, local authorities and property professionals, as well as policymakers, which this year included metro mayors including Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham.
“As an organisation that matches landlords with social housing providers to provide homes for social use, it gave us the opportunity to raise the profile of what we do and discuss our services with the many local authorities present.”
Many landlords may find this attractive given they could secure long-term contracts and steady rental income from the demand based on the asylum backlog.
Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton in North Yorkshire, is responsible for Conservative fundraising, campaigning and relations with activists in his role as Tory party chair. His acceptance of hospitality from this company, in his role as shadow housing secretary, may raise eyebrows given his party’s repeated pledges to cut migration numbers.
The Home Office has faced criticism over the increasing use of temporary accommodation, including HMOs, for asylum seekers as claim numbers reach record levels. Two cabinet ministers have repeatedly raised private concerns that rapid conversions of family homes are inflaming community tensions.
Several Labour MPs have also pressed ministers on the scale and cost of outsourcing accommodation contracts to private landlords and companies.
Reform UK has made housing asylum seekers in HMOs a political target. Its MPs have attacked the issue as a symbol of a broken migration system. In her maiden speech earlier this year, the Reform MP Sarah Pochin alleged that HMOs used for asylum housing were “breeding grounds for organised crime gangs” and urged the government to clamp down on them.
Hollinrake, a former businessman who founded the estate agency Hunters in York, has previously spoken about the need for a fair rental market and has championed small landlords.
His constituency has been touched by asylum accommodation debates. In 2022, Hollinrake opposed plans to convert a former RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse near York into a large reception centre for asylum seekers. At the time he described the proposal as unsuitable and said local communities had not been properly consulted.
Accommodation for asylum seekers has become a sharp dividing line of this parliament. Ministers say their approach saves money and eases pressure on hotels.
Asked whether it had worked with Living Redefined, the Home Office declined to comment. Hollinrake has not responded to requests for comment.
A Conservative party spokesperson said: “Labour’s utter failure to grip the small boats crisis has turned the housing crisis into a housing catastrophe. As shadow housing secretary and now as chairman Kevin Hollinrake has continued to hold the government to account for their failures and the impact this has on the British public. Only the Conservatives have a plan to end this crisis.”
Sources close to the chair added Hollinrake had attended the MIPIM built environment conference, citing the fact that government ministers and Labour councillors had also attended the conference, and in order to do so had accepted hospitality.
