What was claimed
The government insists it has halved the number of hotels housing asylum seekers since it came to power, from 400 down to around 200.
Our verdict
The number of these hotels has fallen from the peak of over 400 in summer 2023 to around 200 now, but the majority of this decrease took place under the previous government. Some Labour MPs have previously wrongly made this claim, with at least one since correcting.
In an article published on 10 January Sky News claimed the government “insists it has halved the number of hotels in use since it came to power, from 400 down to around 200”.
This isn't right, and we’re grateful to Sky News for correcting its article after Full Fact got in touch.
Although the number of hotels being used to house asylum seekers has fallen from the peak of over 400 in summer 2023 to around 200 now, the number in use when Labour took office in July 2024 was 213. So the majority of the decrease from 400 actually took place under the previous government.
In recent months we’ve fact checked a number of Labour ministers and MPs, as well as media outlets, who have claimed the number of hotels has halved under Labour. At least one minister who made the claim corrected the record.
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