Adam Hug

THERE are no asylum seeker hotels in the city of Westminster, the leader of the council said this week as he warned against those “fanning the flames of tension”.

Labour’s Adam Hug was responding to a letter from the Conservative leader Paul Swaddle that said, “asylum seekers in hotels is not practical or appropriate” in residential areas.

It said there were eight “contingency hotels” for asylum seekers in Westminster in spring last year.

The city council said the hotels, secured by the Home Office, were used only between last October and January 2025.

Cllr Swaddle’s letter said: “I hope that you will agree with me that housing asylum seekers in hotels is not practical or appropriate both for those based there and for our surrounding communities.

Many of these people living in these hotels are extremely vulnerable and accommodating them in residential areas increases and compounds the challenges they are facing.”

It added: “We hope you will agree that Westminster must stand up for the safety of its residents and to find more appropriate housing for those seeking asylum that is safe, lawful and sustainable.”

It added: “A significant number of our residents have rightly and reasonably raised concerns over the safety of these hotels.”

Earlier this month Epping Forest council was granted an injunction by the High Court against hotel owners using the property to house asylum seekers.

Westminster City Council said it had been in discussion with the Home Office about the judgment and would make any future decisions on a case-by-case basis.

A response to Cllr Swaddle from the city council’s chief executive, Stuart Love, added: “While it is true that asylum seekers have experienced, and continue to experience, complex challenges, we firmly disagree with the assertion that ‘accommodating them in residential areas (necessarily) increases and compounds the challenges they are facing’, on the contrary enabling them to benefit from local support services and to integrate with local communities can be beneficial for both as shown by the track record of the council’s work with Ukrainian and Afghan families over a number of years.”

Cllr Hug said: “There are currently no asylum hotels in the city.

“However Westminster has a long, proud history of playing its part by offering refuge to vulnerable people from across the world. Further, we do not believe the presence of asylum seekers in our community makes residents any less safe.

“Politicians have a responsibility to treat such matters seriously and sensitively without fanning the flames of community tension, including where it does not currently exist as in Westminster.”