Why are we doing this research?
The way asylum accommodation is provided in the UK is significantly changing significantly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of hotels to house people seeking asylum increased rapidly. In 2023, at its peak, 45% of all supported asylum seekers were housed in hotel contingency accommodation across the UK. At the same time, the government began developing large-scale accommodation sites, often located in former military bases and other isolated locations (e.g., the Bibby Stockholm barge, moored off Portland port, Dorset, and closed in January 2025).
In 2024, the new Labour government announced plans to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029. However, while many hotels are now closing, some large accommodation sites continue to operate and new ones have opened, including a site in Crowborough, East Sussex. These changes have transformed where and how people seeking asylum are housed, raising important questions about their impacts on individuals, communities and public services.
The Peripheralisation of Asylum Accommodation Project (PAAP) explores these changes and their consequences. We use the term peripheralisation to describe the growing tendency to accommodate people seeking asylum in locations that are geographically, socially or politically distant from centres of everyday life, services and decision-making.
What are we studying?
Through the analysis of four case studies in England, the research focuses on four key questions:
1. How are accommodation policies debated and justified?
We examine how decisions to open, close or expand asylum hotels and large-scale accommodation sites are discussed and negotiated by governments, local authorities, accommodation providers, charities, community organisations and local residents.
2. How are these accommodation sites governed?
We investigate the laws, policies and practical arrangements that shape the operation of hotels and large sites, including how decisions are made and implemented.
3. What are people’s experiences of living in these forms of accommodation?
We explore how people seeking asylum experience living in hotels and large sites, as well as the impacts of moving between different forms of accommodation while waiting for decisions on their asylum claims.
4. How do these policies affect local communities and support networks?
We examine how accommodation changes influence local authorities, charities, volunteers, legal support organisations and other groups that provide assistance to people seeking asylum.
Project Impact
By bringing together the perspectives of people seeking asylum, policymakers, support organisations and local communities, PAAP aims to improve understanding of how accommodation policies are reshaping the UK’s asylum system. The project will provide evidence to support informed public debate and contribute to discussions about more effective, equitable and humane approaches to asylum accommodation.
More broadly, PAAP is designed not only to generate new knowledge about asylum accommodation, but also to create practical benefits for the communities, organisations and decision-makers involved in this area.
Informing local authorities and policymakers
Although decisions about asylum accommodation are made by central government, local authorities often have to respond to their consequences. Councils frequently support local communities, coordinate services and manage the practical impacts of hotel closures or the opening of large accommodation sites. PAAP is working with partner organisations to ensure that research findings reach local councillors, local authority officers and other decision-makers.
Through workshops, reports and engagement activities, the project will provide evidence about how accommodation policies affect local areas and what lessons can be learned for future policy development.
Supporting organisations working with migrants
Many charities and community organisations work every day to support people seeking asylum, yet they often face challenges understanding and responding to rapidly changing accommodation policies.
PAAP aims to generate new evidence that can strengthen advocacy and improve support for people living in asylum accommodation. The project will produce accessible reports and resources that help organisations understand how asylum hotels and large accommodation sites operate, what their legal status is, and how these arrangements affect people seeking asylum.
By sharing research findings with practitioners, the project aims to support more informed advocacy and contribute to ongoing efforts to protect the rights and wellbeing of people seeking asylum.
Empowering people with lived experience
A central goal of the project is to ensure that people with direct experience of the asylum system play an active role in shaping the research. Working with the VOICES Network, a group of refugees and people seeking asylum, the project is training and supporting Peer Researchers who contribute to research design, participant recruitment, analysis and dissemination.
Rather than treating people seeking asylum simply as research participants, PAAP recognises them as experts in their own experiences. Peer Researchers receive research training, gain valuable work experience, and help interpret findings from their own perspectives. They will also be involved in producing project outputs, including reports where they will be recognised as co-authors. This approach helps build skills, supports future employment opportunities, and promotes more inclusive and collaborative ways of producing knowledge about migration.
Contributing to better public understanding
The project also aims to make discussions about asylum accommodation more evidence-based and informed. Public debates about asylum often focus on numbers, costs or political controversies, while the everyday experiences of people living within the accommodation system receive less attention.
PAAP will help improve understanding of how accommodation policies are experienced in practice. Through reports, workshops, blog posts, public engagement activities and collaborations with partner organisations, the project seeks to contribute to constructive conversations about the future of asylum accommodation in the UK.