Asylum seeker hotel accommodation in Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

1. How many tax payer funded Migrant hotels are there in Scotland?

2. Where are they?

3. How many people are being housed in them?

4. What is the annual cost of providing this accommodation?

5. Are the government planning in opening more in the next year?

We then asked for clarification on 12 August 2025 regarding how you defined ‘migrant' and you responded on 12 August 2025 to confirm that you defined ‘migrant’ as “those seeking asylum through legal process and those here illegally.”

Response

First of all, as you may be aware, asylum and immigration are matters reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum support and accommodation, decisions relating to asylum applications and no recourse to public funds, as well as the design and operation of UK refugee resettlement programmes. The Scottish Government has no control over these processes.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested for your first and second questions because an exemption under section 39 of FOISA applies to that information. This is because releasing data regarding the location and number of hotels is outweighed by the public interest in maintaining operational dialogue and information sharing between Governments and third-party providers, particularly at this time when there is heightened unrest regarding protests at specifically asylum hotels across the UK. We have also considered the safety and security of any individuals residing in temporary accommodation as part of the public interest test.

For your third question, there are 1,622 people seeking asylum being accommodated in hotels in Scotland as of the most recent Home Office figures from March 2025. From this figure, 1,455 are being accommodated in contingency hotels and 167 are in initial hotel accommodation. Please note that the information you have requested is publicly available from the UK Government website which you can view here: Regional and local authority data on immigration groups - GOV.UK. 

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the UK Government website, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

For your fourth and fifth questions, while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because funding and operational decisions regarding hotels for people seeking asylum are managed by the Home Office and the Scottish Government has no control over these processes and does not hold any information on these matters.

As asylum and immigration are reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office, you may find it useful to contact the Home Office at foirequests@homeoffice.gov.uk to find out whether there is any information which they would be able to provide in relation to your request.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested for your fourth and fifth questions.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.