Portsmouth blindsided by hundreds of hidden asylum seekers
Portsmouth city council discovered last week that 55 rental properties were being used to house at least three asylum seekers each, accommodation known as homes of multiple occupation (HMO).
In 2023, James Hill, the city's director of housing, told the Home Office the 'system's capacity was such that we couldn't support additional asylum seekers'. However, at a public meeting in July hosted by Amanda Martin, the Labour MP for Portsmouth North, figures came to light that revealed the number of private properties being used to house migrants had risen from ten at the end of 2019 to 58 in April 2024. Last week, the council confirmed with the Home Office that the number was 55.
Martin unearthed the data after Clearsprings Ready Homes, a housing company subcontracted by the Home Office to provide accommodation for asylum seekers, wrote to a parliamentary committee in June as part of an inquiry into asylum accommodation.
Portsmouth city council said it had since complained to the department that it had not been notified about this use of the properties. 'We were previously not aware of the number of properties being used in the city,' a spokesman said. 'We have made it clear that the processes [the Home Office] has are not adequate and they should be formally notifying a senior officer.'
The Home Office routinely subcontracts private companies, including Clearsprings, to provide accommodation for asylum seekers via HMOs. These are classed as rented homes with shared facilities and at least three tenants from different households, which landlords require a licence to operate.
While there is no legal obligation for the Home Office to notify local authorities when asylum seekers are housed in HMOs in their area, councils expect to be told. Local authorities say that when large numbers of asylum seekers are placed in their region without warning, it places a strain on resources and can lead to social problems.
Dame Penny Mordaunt, who lost her seat as Conservative MP for Portsmouth North at the last general election, said she was not informed about the increase in HMOs for migrants in her constituency, despite sitting in the cabinet alongside Suella Braverman, the home secretary at the time. Mordaunt said she wrote to Braverman in 2023 'pointing out the levels Portsmouth has taken over many years in comparison to other areas', adding: '[Braverman] assured me she understood that.'
The former defence secretary said she was separately given assurances by the Home Office under Braverman that other buildings would not be used to house asylum seekers in the city. Braverman declined to comment.
In July, Braverman wrote to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, about proposals to house asylum seekers in a former retail site in Waterlooville, near Portsmouth. Braverman called the plans 'inappropriate' and claimed facilities of that sort made town centres 'no-go zones for the patriotic, common-sense majority'.
The data published in June by Clearsprings showed the number of HMOs used to house asylum seekers in London and the south of England was 731 in December 2019, increasing to 885 in August 2024.
HMOs are increasingly seen as an alternative to housing asylum seekers in taxpayer-funded hotels, a practice the Labour government has pledged to end. In June, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, said the use of asylum hotels would end by 2029, saving the country £1 billion.
The latest available data shows 32,000 asylum seekers were being housed in hotels at the end of March 2025, almost a third of all migrants receiving accommodation support in the UK.
The rate of asylum seekers coming into the country has meant the number left in hotel accommodation is yet to drop below the level set when the Conservatives left office, when 29,000 asylum seekers were housed in hotels. This week, the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats since Labour came to power last July surpassed 50,000.
Some local authorities have reported substantial numbers, including Swindon in Wiltshire, where there were 69 HMOs, and Colchester in Essex, where there were 52. The latest data from the Home Office shows 112 asylum seekers were housed temporarily in hotels in Portsmouth at the end of December 2024, up from 77 at the end of September.
George Madgwick, the leader of the Reform UK group in Portsmouth, wrote to the home secretary this week raising concerns that the number of HMOs in the city was 'putting a strain on the local private and social housing situation'. He claimed using properties to house migrants 'will be directly responsible for putting up local rental prices'.
Martin, who was elected to represent the Portsmouth North constituency last year, said she made 'no apologies for laying out the facts available to my constituents, including the Liberal Democrat-led council'.
The Home Office said the government was 'continuing to expand the use of dispersal accommodation as part of our strategy to reduce reliance on costly hotels and deliver a more sustainable and cost-effective asylum system'. A spokesman said: 'This approach is being implemented in close consultation with local authorities across the UK to ensure dispersal is balanced and community needs and concerns are taken into account.'
Clearsprings declined to comment.
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