Councils could be given payments to move migrants out of hotels

COUNCILS could receive extra government cash to take migrants out of hotels amid mounting tensions in communities where they have been placed.

About 40,000 asylum seekers are currently housed in 200 hotels at a cost of £5million a day, while the backlog of pending asylum claims has risen to a record 166,000.

The hotel bill is projected to hit £2.3billion this year amid forecasts of another 65,000 migrants arriving on small boats across the Channel this year.

Asylum hotels have also become a focus for protests, leading to clashes between far-right groups and migrant campaigners. More demonstrations are expected this weekend.

Councils that have previously taken asylum seekers long-term say they are at breaking point, and plans to house them in disused holiday camps, old military bases, and other large sites have yet to get off the ground.

The Home Office is attempting to disperse asylum seekers to a wider range of council areas through a scheme that provides authorities with one-off payments of £250 per person and £3,500 for each new occupied bed space.

And government sources said ministers were now considering further payments to councils. “We are more likely to give councils money to buy more stock. This will have a knock-on effect on the housing market but it will potentially increase the amount of social affordable housing,” said a government source.

Ministers are also looking to streamline the process to reduce the bureaucracy for councils. Hundreds of asylum seekers are stuck in hotels because of Home Office rules that prevent them being told their application has been successful until they have been found alternative accommodation.

The rule is designed to prevent councils that are already housing a disproportionate number of asylum seekers in hotels having to find homes for them once their claim is approved.