Student flats in Huddersfield, leased by the Home Office for £7 million to house asylum seekers, have stood empty for over a year – leaving taxpayers to shoulder millions in wasted rent. The Telegraph has the story.
The blocks were built in 2019 for Huddersfield University students and feature “spacious” studio bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchens and a gym, but have never been used.
They were leased for an estimated £7 million in spring 2024 by the Tory government to provide a cheaper alternative to hotels for asylum seekers. However, they are still empty with no final decision on when migrants might be moved in.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has pledged to axe the use of hotels for asylum seekers by the end of the Parliament in four years’ time.
At the end of March 2025, there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers in hotels, costing up to £6 million a day, out of a total government bill for asylum accommodation and support of £3.6 billion for the current year.
It is understood negotiations are underway between the Home Office and local council officials to place asylum seekers in the blocks, but a source familiar with the talks said a decision on moving them in was “months away”.
It is part of attempts by Labour to use alternative “mid-sized” sites, including empty tower blocks, former student accommodation or vacant college buildings as an alternative to hotels.
The new strategic partnerships would see accommodation either owned by councils and leased to the Government for asylum use or secured by the Government and leased to local authorities. …
The Home Office earmarked £358 million to use the Huddersfield blocks until 2034, according to the National Audit Office, which had access to internal data. This included running costs of £24.7 million a year and £7.1 million for “site acquisition, lease and set up” in 2024/25.
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