Asylum Hotels Cost 6x More Than a Home. So Why Can't Britain Close Them?

An asylum hotel costs around six times more a night than an ordinary home. Labour says they'll all be gone by 2029. So why is it so hard to close them? We start in Epping, the town whose hotel became the most argued-about building in Britain, then follow the money, the court cases and the whole asylum system as one machine. Then we play it out: four ways to close the hotels, and what each one costs. Chapters 0:00 Epping: the most argued-about building in Britain 1:00 A stopgap that became a system 2:48 Who gets paid? 4:07 Epping: the town that went to court 5:50 Why you can't just shut them 6:50 What if? Four ways to close the hotels 8:34 Progress, and the buildings still waiting Border & State explains borders, migration and the state in animation, with real numbers. Scenes in Epping, Wethersfield and Portland are animated re-creations. Nobody shown is a real individual, and the man charged in Epping is not named. The "what if" scenarios use simple arithmetic on the published figures (for example 16,021 people in hotels ÷ 744 at Wethersfield ≈ 21.5 sites). Sources Home Office, people in the UK asylum system (end of June 2026): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2026/how-many-people-are-in-the-uk-asylum-system Home Office, asylum claims (year ending June 2026): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2026/how-many-people-claim-asylum-in-the-uk House of Commons Library, asylum accommodation costs: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2025-0184/ Migration Observatory, asylum accommodation in the UK: https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/asylum-accommodation-in-the-uk/ National Audit Office, The Home Office's asylum accommodation contracts (May 2025): https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/the-home-offices-asylum-accommodation-contracts/ National Audit Office, Investigation into asylum accommodation (March 2024): https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/investigation-into-asylum-accommodation.pdf Home Office, asylum hotels close as large sites scale up: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/asylum-hotels-close-as-government-scales-up-use-of-large-sites Home Office, exit from asylum hotels shows progress (15 Apr 2026): https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/exit-from-asylum-hotels-shows-progress-on-illegal-migration Full Fact, government tracker: asylum hotels: https://fullfact.org/government-tracker/asylum-hotels/ ITV News, military sites (25 Jun 2026): https://www.itv.com/news/2026-06-25/home-office-plans-to-use-more-military-sites-for-asylum-accommodation ITV News, Bibby Stockholm (26 Nov 2024): https://itv.com/news/westcountry/2024-11-26/final-asylum-seekers-to-leave-bibby-stockholm-barge ITV News, Epping appeal hearing (28 Aug 2025): https://www.itv.com/news/2025-08-28/court-hears-home-office-bid-to-appeal-against-epping-asylum-seeker-hotel-ruling Court of Appeal, Somani Hotels v Epping Forest DC [2025] EWCA Civ 1134 (King's Chambers summary): https://www.kingschambers.com/piers-riley-smith-successfully-appeals-injunction-prohibiting-the-use-of-bell-hotel-for-asylum-seeker-accommodation/ Express & Star / PA, conviction (4 Sep 2025): https://www.expressandstar.com/uk-news/asylum-seeker-hotel-resident-guilty-of-sexual-assaults-days-after-arriving-in-uk-5671657 LocalGov, councils not informed (Jul 2025): https://www.localgov.co.uk/Asylum-minister-admits-information-sharing-no-longer-fit-for-purpose/62654 Leigh Day / RAMFEL, "Profiting from People" (Nov 2025): https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/press-releases/2025-news/charity-report-finds-uk-asylum-hotels-failing-vulnerable-people/ Home Office guidance, permission to work: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/handling-applications-for-permission-to-take-employment-instruction/permission-to-work-and-volunteering-for-asylum-seekers-accessible Lord Hanson, written answer HL13240 (19 Jan 2026) Liberal Democrats 2024 manifesto (EIN): https://www.ein.org.uk/news/liberal-democrats-manifesto-pledges-scrap-illegal-migration-act-and-rwanda-scheme-and Right to Remain, move-on period (9 Mar 2026): https://righttoremain.org.uk/if-you-get-refugee-status-when-does-asylum-support-end-more-changes-to-move-on-period/ Refugee Council, "Getting it right" (Mar 2026, via EIN): https://www.ein.org.uk/node/798483 AI disclosure Narration: AI voice ("George") generated with vidIQ from our own script. Thumbnails made with AI image tools (ChatGPT), with comic portraits of the two ministers quoted in the video. Animation, music and sound effects are original, made in code. #asylumhotels #immigration #uk