More asylum seekers to be moved into two Crawley hotels

The news came shortly after the government announced it would be ending the use of 50 hotels across the country from January.

Council leader Michael Jones said the authority had received no word that any of those hotels would be in Crawley.

But he added: “However, the government has announced that the occupancy in two of the Crawley hotels will be increased in order to maximise occupancy.

“In so doing this will aid the intention to close accommodation elsewhere.

“This means there will be greater numbers potentially approaching the council for housing once their status is determined and they are evicted from their current accommodation.”

The cost of temporary housing has caused huge financial problems for the council.

During the first quarter of 2023/24, more than 20,000 nights of temporary accommodation were paid for, compared to 13,417 during the same period in 2022/23.

Despite an additional £1.4million being built into the budget for this year, the council faces a projected overspend of £1.9million on that area alone.

The Local Government Association has already warned about the cost impact housing asylum seekers has on already stretched councils.

Mr Jones said: “The working assumption at this stage based upon what we know is that the space vacated [at the hotels] will be refilled by others.

“If this is correct, and unlike those areas where hotels are closing, the pressures are likely to be ongoing and increased.

“The government does not appear to have made any effort to try and spread the use of hotels across the country, but instead appears just to have picked particular areas where the number of available hotels is high, of which Crawley is one.

“This is particularly unhelpful because any housing duty owed upon removal from the hotels becomes the council’s responsibility and becomes a burden on the local taxpayer as the council can only reclaim a fraction of the costs incurred back from the government.”

In the meantime, Crawley will be one of 100 councils attending an emergency summit hosted by Eastbourne Borough Council on Tuesday (October 31) to discuss the ‘escalating social and financial crisis created by the unprecedented demand for temporary accommodation’.

Mr Jones said: “The council is working with other areas across the country facing similar pressures and will be making suitable representations to government.”