Most areas with asylum seeker hotels have Labour councils

More than half of the council areas using hotels for asylum seekers are fully or partly Labour-controlled. A Conservative-controlled council won a temporary injunction to stop 140 asylum seekers living at a hotel, a ruling that could impede the legal duty to house asylum seekers and has prompted several Tory councils to consider legal action. Some Labour councils are also weighing legal steps while others, including Newcastle and Brighton and Hove, have pledged sanctuary. Home Office data show 131 local authorities use contingency accommodation, primarily hotels, with the largest numbers in Hillingdon, Hounslow, Barnet, Birmingham and Manchester.

On Tuesday, Conservative-controlled Epping Forest District Council won a temporary injunction in the courts to stop 140 asylum seekers living at the Bell Hotel in Epping. The ruling could hinder the government's efforts to fulfil its legal duty of housing asylum seekers, with several Tory councils saying they are also considering legal action. Two Labour councils are thinking of following suit but others have ruled it out, with two, Newcastle and Brighton and Hove, saying they wanted to provide "sanctuary" to refugees.

The area with the highest number of asylum seekers living in contingency accommodation is Tory-controlled Hillingdon where 2,238 asylum seekers are housed - around 0.7% of the more than 300,000 people living in the North London borough. The number represents a fall of 443 in the months from the end of March to the end of June. Hillingdon is considering taking legal action following the Epping ruling - along with two other Conservative-controlled areas: Broxbourne, Reigate and Banstead.

According to data published by the Home Office on Thursday, 131 of the UK's over 300 local authorities currently house asylum seekers in so-called contingency accommodation, primarily made up of hotels. Of the 131 areas, 74 are fully or partially led by Labour, 30 by the Liberal Democrats, 19 by the Conservatives, nine by the Green Party and one by Reform UK.

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