UK houses 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels, data shows, as critics decry policy

FILE PHOTO: Asylum seekers react as they look out the window at the Cresta Court hotel, as people take part in an anti-immigration demonstration outside the hotel, in Altrincham, Britain, August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) -More than 32,000 asylum seekers were housed in hotels in Britain at the end of June 2025 with asylum claims hitting a record, official data showed on Thursday, as the housing issue becomes a major headache for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer's government is facing increasing pressure over housing asylum seekers in hotels after a council won a temporary court injunction earlier this week meaning all the migrants living in one hotel had to be removed.