Asylum accommodation to end at Southsea’s Royal Beach Hotel

A Southsea hotel will stop housing asylum seekers, as the government moves to end the “use of asylum hotels entirely”.

Asylum accommodation at Southsea’s Royal Beach Hotel is set to end by the end of the year, the Home Office has confirmed.

Following a meeting with the minister for Border Security, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said the Government ruled out the use of the hotel for asylum accommodation before the end of December 2026.

The hotel was the site of various anti-asylum protests in the summer of 2025 and currently has planning permission to be converted into 57 flats.

Mr Morgan said: “Labour inherited an asylum system under exceptional and unsustainable strain, with tens of thousands of cases stuck in the backlog and deep-rooted structural pressures across the system. An over-reliance on the inappropriate usage of hotels as asylum accommodation is an example of this.

“The Home Office has now confirmed directly to me that the Royal Beach Hotel will cease to provide accommodation in the coming weeks as part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to return usage of these venues over to local communities.

“The Minister has reassured me the Government will continue this transition to more appropriate and more sustainable forms of accommodation. This will deliver better value for taxpayers whilst restoring control and confidence for local communities like ours – a decision which will be welcomed in Portsmouth.

“By getting a grip of a system which spiralled out of control under the Tories, the Government will be able to provide protection to those in need, while bearing down on abuse of the system so that the British people do not lose faith in the idea of an asylum system.”

A Home Office spokesperson added: “The Government inherited an asylum system under exceptional and unsustainable strain, with tens of thousands of cases stuck in the backlog and deep-rooted structural pressures across the system.

“Since taking office, we have restarted asylum processing at pace, established the new Border Security Command, and begun the most significant reforms to our asylum system in a generation. But we are clear: these longstanding problems cannot be fixed overnight.

“The Government has made it a priority to end the use of asylum hotels entirely within this Parliament.

“Following a review of our current asylum accommodation estate capacity, the Home Office will be terminating the contract with Royal Beach Hotel and can confirm that it will cease being used before the end of December 2026”.

Reacting to the news, councillor Emily Strudwick, leader of the Reform UK group on Portsmouth City Council said: “What we need is an end to boat arrivals. Closing hotels just means the issue is being moved elsewhere. Instead of having a central location, like a hotel, they are now being dispersed within community settings like HMOs.

“What we need is simple. A strong border where there are controls in place to stop anyone crossing onto our shores and if they do manage to cross they need to be fully detained in a secure facility and not be allowed to released into the community until their application has been finalised. We need to stop encouraging, incentivising and rewarding criminal activity.”

The Government says fewer than 170 hotels now house asylum seekers, down from around 400, with numbers halving in the past year.