Asylum accommodation in Farnborough

In July the Home Office started to use an apartment block of 113 flats in Farnborough as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.

We have expressed our concerns about this decision and the impact it could have on local services. Please see our full asylum accommodation update statement for more information.

We understand that you may have some questions and we have tried to pull together information to help explain the situation. We plan to add to this information when we have later updates.

The accommodation site in Farnborough

The location for the accommodation is an apartment block in Farnborough, but we are unable to give any more specific details.

We did not have a role in choosing the site, it was part of a process run by the Home Office and its contractors. The Home Office manages and decides the number of asylum seekers housed at the site.

The apartment block is privately owned and would not be available for social housing.

Asylum seekers and refugees

An asylum seeker is someone awaiting legal recognition as a refugee in another country due to fleeing to escape persecution and human rights violations.

A refugee is someone who flees their country due to severe human rights violations and persecution, seeking safety elsewhere as their government fails to protect them and now has legal documents stating their right not to be sent back to their country of origin. They are entitled to international protection.

The Refugee Council explains that seeking asylum is a legal process and therefore it is not illegal to be an asylum seeker. Anyone has the right to apply for asylum in any country signed up to the 1951 Refugee Convention under international law, and therefore have the right to stay in that country until their claim has been assessed. This does not need to be the first safe country they reach.

If an individual is successful in receiving refugee status, they can legally work, study, and claim benefit in the UK, in the same way any British National can.

People living in the accommodation

Asylum support, including accommodation, is provided by the Home Office to asylum seekers who do not have any other way of supporting themselves. Asylum seekers in Home Office accommodation do not get a choice in what kind of accommodation they receive or where in the UK they live.

People seeking asylum are not entitled to benefits, but they are given a weekly allowance by the Home Office to help them meet their essential living needs. For people living in dispersal accommodation, such as the apartments in Farnborough, in July 2024, this was £49.18 a week per person to pay for all food, clothing, toiletries, and travel. There are extra weekly payments for pregnant women (£5.25), pre-school children (£5.25) and babies under 1 year (£9.50). If, however, the accommodation provides meals, as it is the case in hotels, asylum seekers in July 2024 got £8.86 per person per week.

The people seeking asylum are free to come and go from the accommodation. The Home Office's accommodation provider Clearsprings Ready Homes has confirmed that there will be a 24/7 staff presence on this site.

The Home Office will provide asylum seekers with accommodation until their claim for asylum is determined.

Please visit GOV.UK - Asylum support for more information about what support is provided by the government.

Hotel in Rushmoor accommodating asylum seekers

There is a local hotel, three miles from the new accommodation site that is also being used as accommodation for people seeking asylum.

Last year, the government announced that it would be moving away from using hotels to provide temporary accommodation for asylum seekers to reduce the burden on the taxpayer.

The Home Office have not given us a timescale for stopping the use of the hotel in Rushmoor, but we have asked that the Home Office stop using the hotel for further asylum accommodation.

Rights to work and housing

People seeking asylum in the UK are not normally allowed to get paid work while their claim is being considered. Permission to work may be granted to asylum seekers whose claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own. Those who are allowed to work are restricted to jobs on the shortage occupation list published by the Home Office.

People seeking asylum are encouraged to volunteer while their claim is being considered. By volunteering for a charity or public sector organisation, they can support their local community, and this will also help them to become part of the community if they are granted leave to remain in the UK.

The Home Office provides temporary housing for people seeking asylum, if they cannot afford their own accommodation. People seeking asylum do not receive council housing and are not entitled to social housing while their claim is assessed.

There is no law or government policy that puts refugees ahead of British Nationals in securing social or council housing because of their identity. Once an individual receives refugee status, asylum seeker support is withdrawn by the government and they are removed from their temporary accommodation within 28 days.

If their claim is successful and they become a refugee, they can access the job market and benefits. They can also approach us for support.

Number of people seeking asylum in the UK

In March 2024 there were 104,517 asylum seekers receiving support in the UK.

Contact the Home Office for more information

You can find out more about the government’s policies on asylum on the GOV.UK website.

If you have more questions, you can contact the Home Office's asylum team at public.enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk or 020 7035 4848.