Some 69,038 are now living in houses, flats and bedsits – including large HMOs – which is up from 68,719 asylum seekers in May. This includes 4,790 failed asylum seekers.
The asylum system is in crisis (Image: Getty)
Almost 70,000 asylum seekers are now living in communities as Labour continues to spread migrants across the country, bombshell new figures reveal. Some 69,038 are now living in houses, flats and bedsits – including large houses in multiple occupation or HMOs – which is up from 68,719 asylum seekers in May. This includes 4,790 failed asylum seekers. The number of migrants living in hotels has fallen to 16,021.
It comes a week after the Daily Express revealed that the Home Office is telling asylum seekers not to rape or beat women, and to not have sex with children, as concerns over cultural values intensify. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has vowed to close every migrant hotel by the next General Election. But the growing numbers in ‘dispersal accommodation’ will anger the public even more, ministers were told, because communities will be unable to cope.
Reform’s Zia Yusuf said: “Today’s figures show the invasion of Britain continues under Labour.
“More than 205,000 people have crossed the Channel in boats since 2018, yet just 5% have been deported.
“Meanwhile, the number of foreign criminals walking our streets has hit a record 21,294. Labour is allowing dangerous foreign criminals to roam freely, posing a serious threat to the British public, while illegal migrants are being dispersed from hotels into HMOs and properties in British communities, with virtually no background checks.
“And now we are seeing record numbers of foreign nationals being granted Indefinite Leave to Remain, giving people unlimited access to our welfare system, all paid for by British taxpayers.
“Britain is at breaking point. Under Reform, illegal boats in the Channel will be stopped by our Navy, and all those here illegally will be detained and deported.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Labour are moving illegal immigrants out of hotels and into flats in your building, and now they are telling them to go and disappear without a trace.
“More than 93,000 people are now being housed at the taxpayer’s expense, and the number crammed into dispersal accommodation has climbed by 12 per cent under Labour. Illegal immigrants should be deported in the first place, and we should certainly not be encouraging them to just disappear.
“The next Conservative government would deport every illegal immigrant, leaving the ECHR and any other obligation that stands in the way in order to get it done, because the surest way to empty the accommodation is to make plain that nobody who crosses the Channel gets to stay.”
Britain’s asylum crisis was laid bare as 85,891 sought sanctuary in the UK last year, down from 106,130 in the previous 12 months.
An alarming 33,949 people applied after crossing the Channel on a dinghy, while 34,999 claimed refuge after arriving on a study, work or visitor visa.
Of this group, 9,442 held a study visa, 14,151 arrived on a work visa, 6,392 used a visitor visa and 5,014 held other forms of leave.
One in 10 asylum seekers were from Pakistan, with 8,305 in total. Most sought protection after arriving on a visa. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians and Nigerians were the most common nationalities to seek sanctuary after travelling to the UK legally.
Eritreans, Afghans, Iranians, Sudanese and Somalis have accounted for the biggest cohorts of small boat migrants so far this year.
Reform’s Zia Yusuf said: “On Tuesday, a Sudanese man called Ibrahim Albashir was jailed for the attempted murder of a 32-year-old woman.
“He ambushed her as she walked home from a meal with friends. He stabbed her 30 times with a broken bottle. She survived only because locals heard her ‘blood-curdling screams’ and intervened.
“Albashir is an illegal migrant. The Tories let him in.
“He had previously tried his luck in France. They rejected his asylum claim and detained him in a mental hospital for six months due to catatonic schizophrenia.
“After entering Britain, the court heard he sexually assaulted a female staff member at a hostel. Despite all this, he was left to roam free.
“It could have been your daughter, wife, sister, or grandmother. Stabbed 30 times with broken glass.
“At this very moment, thousands upon thousands of unvetted illegals continue to roam free.
“This is the consequence of inaction. Every day that passes without mass deportations risks ever more blood on the government’s hands. They do not care about you.”
Home Office spending on asylum in the UK stood at £4.36 billion in 2025/26, down 8% from £4.76 billion in 2024/25 and the second annual fall in a row, Government figures show.
The total covers all Home Office costs related to asylum, including direct cash support and accommodation, plus wider staffing and other migration and borders activity.
It does not include costs relating to the interception of migrants who travel to the UK across the English Channel in small boats.
Spending hit a record high of £5.38 billion in 2023/24.
In a startling admission in the booklet for asylum seekers, officials said: “Women do not need permission from a husband, father, brother or any other man to do any of these things.
“Men and women are treated equally by the law, by employers, by schools and by services like hospitals and the police. It is against the law to treat someone unfairly because of their gender.”
Migrants are also being told domestic abuse is illegal and that the age of consent in the UK is 16.
Immigration chiefs warn: “Sex with someone under the age of 16 is a serious crime in the UK. There are no exceptions to this rule. Even if they say yes, it is still illegal. You could go to prison, lose your support and accommodation, and it will affect your asylum claim.”
Migrants are told not to deny children food, or “cut or harm a girl’s genitals”.