A firm that runs dozens of asylum seeker hotels will be stripped of its £2 billion government contract after issues relating to “behaviour and performance”. Stay Belvedere Hotels (SBHL) is responsible for 51 migrant hotels across England and Wales, as well as the Napier Barracks in Kent, which houses migrants while their claims as progressed and is due to close in September.
The government confirmed that the contract, signed in 2019, would be severed following a review of SBHL’s “behaviour and performance”, with no specific examples provided, according to the BBC. “We have made the decision to remove Stay Belvedere Hotels from the Home Office supply chain and will not hesitate to take further action to ensure Home Office contracts deliver for the UK,” border security and asylum minister Angela Eagle said. The Home Office would have to pay break costs to end the SBHL contract before September 2026.
While it has not been confirmed where the thousands of migrants in SBHL hotels will be moved after the contract ends, The Times reported that displaced asylum seekers will be shared between other government contractors, including the company responsible for the infamous Bibby Stockholm barge, which left the coast of Portland, Dorset, in January.
Australian firm Corporate Travel Management (CTM) docked the vessel in Portland in July 2023, after it was billed by the previous Conservative government as a cost-effective solution to the migrant housing problem. It faced numerous hurdles during its stint on the Dorset coast, however, including opposition from Portland residents and the discovery of dangerous bacteria onboard – leading to a complete evacuation just days after the arrival of the first few asylum seekers.
While details of issues found in the SBHL audit have not been disclosed, a document published by the Treasury’s Office for Value for Money (OVfM) this month called on the Home Office to reassess spending on migrant accommodation, warning of perceived “profiteering” by private companies.
“Private sector suppliers of short-term residential accommodation have made record profits [between 2019 and 2024], leading to accusations,” the report read.
“There is a value for money case for improving the procurement of short-term residential accommodation across central and local government,” it added, citing data from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) showing that costs per asylum seeker rose by 141% between 2019/20 and 2023/24.
There are currently around 38,000 migrants living in taxpayer-funded hotels across the country, costing around £5.5 million per day.
New figures also revealed that a record number of asylum seekers have crossed the channel in small boats this year, with the 5,435 recorded arrivals marking a 400-person increase from 2024’s record high for the first quarter of a calender year.
SBHL has been contacted for comment.
