Hillingdon Council has called on the government to provide more support for asylum seekers housed in the borough, citing an unsustainable burden on local residents and a £5 million cost to the council in the last year. The council also faced an unforeseen cost of £14 million in the last year due to unaccompanied asylum seekers coming through Heathrow Airport.
At a council meeting on Thursday 10 July 2025, Councillor Ian Edwards, Leader of the Council, proposed a motion addressing the high number of asylum seekers housed in hotels or dispersed accommodation in Hillingdon. According to the motion, Hillingdon has the highest number of asylum seekers housed in hotels or dispersed accommodation of any local authority in London, more than 4.5 times the London average, and possibly the highest nationally. The motion calls for the government to cease evicting former asylum seekers without securing and funding the necessary future support and accommodation through the Home Office and to refund the costs borne by Hillingdon's residents.
The council is concerned about the government's commitment to evict more than 2,300 asylum seekers currently housed in hotels in the borough by the end of the present Parliament. The council says it is unfair and unsustainable to require Hillingdon's residents to carry the disproportionate burden of supporting former asylum seekers evicted from hotels as required by law. The additional demand on services is to the detriment of existing service users and cost Hillingdon residents around £5m last year.
The motion states that the council requires the government to cease evicting former asylum seekers from hotels and dispersed accommodation without securing and funding the necessary future support and accommodation through the Home Office. It also calls for a refund of costs already shouldered by Hillingdon residents, including the £5 million incurred in the last year due to supporting former asylum seekers evicted from hotels, and the £14 million due to unaccompanied asylum seekers coming through Heathrow Airport. The council is seeking immediate funding for Hillingdon's asylum costs to date.
Furthermore, the council is requesting that the three Members of Parliament work with the government to secure immediate funding for Hillingdon's asylum costs to date. They aim to ensure that the responsibility for supporting and accommodating those evicted from hotels in the borough is equitably shared nationally, and that funding for port authorities is commensurate with the additional responsibilities they discharge on behalf of the nation. The three Members of Parliament are expected to work with the Government to ensure that the responsibility for supporting and accommodating those evicted from hotels in the borough will from this point on be equitably shared nationally, and that the funding of port authorities is commensurate with the additional responsibilities that they discharge on behalf of the nation.
