Council moves to house asylum seekers

The council must find new homes for asylum seekers as part of a move by the Home Office to end the dependence on hotels.

Worcester City Council is already searching for suitable accommodation for around 66 asylum seekers to meet targets under the government’s ‘asylum seeker dispersal programme’.

There are currently 115 asylum seekers living in the Fownes Hotel off City Walls Road, according to the council.

The city council, along with Serco, which was awarded the contract by the Home Office to organise its ‘asylum seeker dispersal plans’, and the other West Midlands authorities, have been ‘hot mapping’ to find suitable locations in the city.

The cost of housing and supporting asylum seekers would be paid for by Serco as part of its contract with the Home Office and the government has already said it will pay £3,500 per bed.

But despite making plans, the city council said it does not know how much it will all cost.

A report, which will be discussed by the council’s communities committee at a meeting on November 2, said: “At this stage it is unclear as to the full cost requirement for our council in undertaking their role to support asylum seekers to integrate and live within the city or indeed support them if their applications are rejected.”

In April, the Home Office wrote to every council saying it would be working to reduce, and eventually stop, using hotels to house asylum seekers.

The move, the government said, would make sure the housing of asylum seekers was ‘fairer’.

The initial ‘regional model’ for the West Midlands stipulated that for every 200 people in the city, the council must house one asylum seeker which would mean that Worcester would be expected to house up to 520 asylum seekers and provide at least 106 beds by the end of 2023 to meet targets.

This, the council expected, would mean that around 30 properties, likely to be houses of multiple occupation (HMO), from the city’s 8,700 privately rented homes would need to be made available for asylum seekers.

Recognising the struggle to find accommodation in rural areas, the criteria has been rejigged and Worcester will now be expected to need around 20 homes for 66 asylum seekers.