There were 36,273 people staying in temporarily accommodation in September, while they await a decision on their asylum claims, an increase of 13% compared with June, according to Home Office data.
The number also represents a rise on the same point last year, when there were 35,628 asylum seekers in hotels.
This was despite the government’s pledge to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers entirely by 2029. The government insists it has halved the number of hotels in use since it came to power, from 400 down to around 200.
Meanwhile there has been another fall in annual net migration, the difference between people entering and leaving the UK. It dropped 69% year on year to its lowest figure since 2021.
In the year to June 2025, net migration was 204,000 according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
That compares to 649,000 in the previous 12 months, and a record of 944,000 in the year to March 2023.
Fewer non-EU migrants
Commenting on the fall in net migration, Mary Gregory, ONS executive director for population and census said: “The fall is largely due to fewer people from outside the EU arriving for work and study-related reasons, with a steep decline in the number of dependants and a continued, gradual increase in levels of emigration.
“Overall, non-EU-plus net migration [those outside the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland] has more than halved in the year ending June 2025.
“Non-EU-plus emigration is driven by Indian and Chinese nationals, who originally arrived on study visas, while nine out of 10 British people emigrating are of working age.”
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has welcomed the figures but admitted that “the pace and scale of migration has placed immense pressure on local communities”.
“Last week, I announced reforms to our migration system to ensure that those who come here must contribute and put in more than they take out,” she added.
The number of asylum seekers in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023 under the then Conservative government but dropped to a record low of 29,561 in June 2024 just before the general election.
Official records date back to December 2022.
Read more from Sky News:
Analysis: Danish style asylum system
Billions ‘wasted’ on hotel costs
How many asylum seekers are in hotels
Protests over migrant sites
Responding to the rise in the number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels, a Home Office spokesman said: “There are now fewer than 200 in use and we will close every single one.
“Work is well under way to move illegal migrants into military bases to ease pressure on communities across the country.”
Last month, the government announced that two barracks in Scotland and southern England would be used to temporarily house around 900 men.
Further deportations to France
Separately, the Home Office revealed the total number of people removed to France under the government’s “one in, one out” deal has risen to 153.
This includes one person who has been deported again after arriving by small boat for a second time, although there have been other examples since the treaty began.
Under the arrangement, 134 people have been brought in to the UK.
But some communities have protested against migrants being housed in their area and there has been criticism of the cost to the taxpayer, with hotel accommodation estimated at £3bn a year in 2023-4, according to the Home Office.
Epping fight continues
This week, Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) said it would seek to appeal against a High Court ruling.
The council failed in its attempt to stop asylum seekers being housed at the Bell Hotel in Essex, which became the centre of a series of protests over the summer over sex offender and Ethiopian national, Hadush Kebatu.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp claimed the fall in net migration figures was “driven by the Conservative reforms we put in place on work visas, dependants, and students”.
