CAMPAIGNERS demanded the government urgently reform the asylum accommodation system and house people in communities — not unsafe, costly hotels that are a “lightning rod for division.”

The home affairs committee released a report today warning that ministers have failed to share a long-term strategy for housing asylum-seekers, despite committing to end the use of hotels by 2029.

It warned that over the last six years, the Home Office has “repeatedly cut corners and wasted considerable amounts of taxpayers’ money.”

The expected cost of asylum accommodation contracts for the 10 years between 2019–29 has more than tripled, from £4.5 billion to £15.3bn, it said.

The committee heard evidence of repeated failures by providers to accommodate the needs of vulnerable people.

The British Red Cross described how pregnant women, new mothers and their babies were being placed in accommodation infested with cockroaches or with severe damp and mould issues.

The charity highlighted concerns about high suicide risks at RAF Wethersfield, a site costing the government an estimated £132 per person per night, yet deemed unsuitable by the district council for its isolation, limited local services and absence of meaningful activities.

The report detailed how local councils perceive that “accommodation providers are still procuring on the basis of cost, driving the concentration of accommodation in more deprived areas.”

Refugee Action chief executive Tim Naor Hilton said the contracts “have put refugees in dangerous housing and divided towns.

“Meanwhile, the firms running them have pocketed huge amounts of money that could have been invested in communities.”

According to the report, millions are still owed to the government by providers in excess profits, yet these have not yet been reclaimed by the Home Office.

It claimed that inadequate oversight meant failings went unnoticed and unaddressed.

But Migrants Rights Network CEO Fizza Qureshi said that the issues “will be of little surprise” to charities and support services, with organisations repeatedly raising safety concerns since the pandemic.

“It has been widely recognised that poor living conditions cause or exacerbate mental ill-health among people seeking asylum, many of whom experience trauma,” she said.

“We hope that this report finally kick-starts a complete overhaul of asylum accommodation and that the voices of people seeking asylum are finally heard and consulted.”

Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon said: “Everyone agrees that the Home Office’s reliance on hotels is a serious failure: they cost the taxpayer billions, unfairly trap people in limbo and have become a lightning rod for division.

“There is a better way. By speeding up decisions for people from countries where we know most asylum applications succeed, subject to rigorous security checks, the government could end the use of expensive asylum hotels in 2026.

“In the long term, we need ambitious action from the government to enable councils to responsibly house people in communities, rather than relying on costly private contracts.”

Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith said: “The quality, and type, of accommodation that we provide to people seeking sanctuary should be an indicator of our humanity.

“Rather than housing people in hotels and camps, they should be housed in communities, with accommodation that serves the needs of individuals, including children, rather than overseeing a system that allows contractors to cream off eye-watering profits.”

Asylum accommodation contracts run until 2029, with a break clause in 2026, which the home affairs committee said could “draw a line under the current failed, chaotic and expensive system.”

A Home Office spokesperson insisted the government will “close every single asylum hotel — saving the taxpayer billions of pounds,” adding it has “already taken action — closing hotels, slashing asylum costs by nearly £1bn and exploring the use of military bases and disused properties.”