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More than 73,000 asylum seekers have been dispersed across Britain as Labour closes asylum hotels in favour of HMOs
The Labour Government has been slammed by a former immigration minister as new data released reveals the staggering number of asylum seekers in British communities.
Speaking to GB News, Kevin Foster criticised the "crass" way that Labour has handled the growing crisis, including issuing asylum seekers with guidance on "how not to rape women".
New immigration data released today by the Home Office has revealed asylum seekers who have been dispersed across Britain has surged by three per cent compared to the end of June 2025.
The number of migrants housed in "non-hotel accommodation" in the 12 months leading up to June 2026 reached 73,068.
Around 17 per cent of asylum seekers remain in hotel accommodation, nearly half the amount compared to a year earlier as Labour continues to disperse them around Britain in HMOs and former military sites.
Discussing the figures on GB News, Mr Foster recalled how many Britons believed that migrants being moved out of asylum hotels would be moved "out of the country", not into their communities.
He said: "I think a lot of people, when they heard asylum hotels were closing said great, that means people are going to be moved out of the country - well, actually, that isn't the case.
"There's about 93,000 people receiving asylum support, according to the figures that have been published this morning.
"Take off 16,000 who are in hotels, a couple of thousand in army bases, even with the new three that were announced, you'd only be talking about 3,600 new spaces. That means a lot of people are in HMO accommodation."
Highlighting one of the key problems associated with using HMOs to accommodate migrants, Mr Foster stressed that it the "type of accommodation local authorities look for" to help Britons find somewhere to live.
He told GB News: "One of the problems of using those types of shared houses is that's exactly the type of accommodation a lot of local authorities look for when trying to accommodate those they have a duty to.
"So that's creating some real issues for councils as well, seeing so much of this accommodation going to them, alongside the concerns it inevitably brings about people being spread out, some of whom may have limited knowledge about the background of."
Criticising the Government's strategy further, Mr Foster said: "And these are people who the Government felt they had to give them a leaflet to tell them not to rape women and sexually harass children, which speaks volumes for some of the concerns they have, even that that was a pretty crass way of dealing with it."
Reflecting on the regular migration figures, the ex-immigration minister highlighted a "trend" repeated from the previous year of data.
He explained: "In terms of regular migration, some of the trends we've seen repeated from last year around citizenship is a lot of people applying for it now.
"These are people who will have been at least six years, possibly longer, who are converting basically something like indefinite leave to remain or permission to be here permanently into actually being a UK national.
"Some of that might be motivated by some of the debates we've seen recently about restricting access to certain support from those with permanent permission to be here versus those who are British citizens."
In a statement, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said of the figures: "A little over two years into office and the asylum backlog is down, the number of asylum seekers in hotels is falling, illegal working arrests are at record levels, and deportations and returns are up markedly.
"Small boats numbers are also now falling, but we are not complacent and there is more we must do.
"That is why I have boosted enforcement on the French beaches and overseas and introduced new legislation to tackle the pull factors that draw people here through unsafe and illegal routes. This government is restoring control at our border and fairness to the migration system."
