No more Portsmouth homes to be used for asylum seekers, council confirms
Portsmouth City Council has confirmed that no more local homes will be used for asylum seekers.
The council has been assured that no new homes in the city will be used for asylum dispersal accommodation following lobbying efforts.
Clearsprings Ready Homes, the company managing the government’s asylum housing in southern England, told the council it will not seek additional properties in Portsmouth and will continue to manage the same number currently used.
Council leader Steve Pitt said the council had “consistently said the Government should look at other areas before placing more people in Portsmouth” and that ministers “now seem to be listening”.
He added that while the city recognised asylum as “a national issue”, Portsmouth already faced a housing crisis and had “fulfilled its share”.
He added: “We have been told currently no additional properties in Portsmouth will be used for asylum dispersal accommodation and will keep reinforcing to the Government the need to stick to that policy.”
The latest data shows 617 people seeking asylum are housed in dispersal accommodation in Portsmouth, a figure consistent with the city’s average over the last two years.
Clearsprings currently uses a range of properties including 53 houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) for asylum dispersal, around 1.6 per cent of the city’s total 3,318 registered HMOs.
Separate to dispersal housing, the Government also uses the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea for temporary asylum accommodation. The latest figures show it is housing 73 people, a 44 per cent reduction since June 2023.
The hotel’s owners are now converting the building into private accommodation. The council said it looks forward to the site becoming homes for Portsmouth residents and “would not support any plans” to replace the facility once it closes.
Asylum housing is managed entirely by the Government, with councils playing no role. Those granted refugee status can stay in the UK permanently but receive no extra council support, being assessed like any other resident.
Since April 2025, Portsmouth City Council has rehoused three refugee households out of 623 households homed in total.