NI’s £400m Asylum Housing Bill Raises Questions Over Who’s Profiting…

From the BBC:

The estimated costs of accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland has risen to £400m, four times the original estimate. That is according to a report by the UK Spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO). According to the NAO, there were 2,741 people in asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland in December 2024. That included 413 people in hotels and 2,328 people in other accommodation. According to the NAO, asylum accommodation in Northern Ireland is among the most profitable in the UK, with a profit margin of 15% for the supplier. The NAO says that in total the three companies made a combined profit of £383m on asylum accommodation contracts between September 2019 and August 2024.

If you think that seems quite a lot of money for only a few thousand people, you would be right. As we discovered with COVID and the PPE scandal, there is no shortage of people looking to profit from other people’s misery.

There is a solution the government continues to ignore. From the same article:

Liz Griffith, from the Migration Justice Project at Law Centre NI, said that, while the cost of supporting asylum seekers is “expensive”, the cost is a “political choice”. “It’s not good public policy to prevent people from working,” she added. Ms Griffith said the government should offer more of the visas that are available to those fleeing Ukraine, where the current rules mean they can apply for visas , externalwhich allow them to work in the United Kingdom. Successful applicants are able to live, work and study in the UK and access public funds. Usually, those who claim asylum in the UK are not allowed to work whilst their claim is being considered, external. “If the government wants to save money, it should grant asylum seekers the right to work, as research shows that this would save the government £4.4bn.” She said such a law change would mean that asylum seekers would also be able to make a contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “Most importantly, it would restore dignity amongst those people currently waiting for a decision,” she added.

When you have a skills shortage, preventing thousands of willing workers from actually working seems morally and economically wrong.

Brian O'Neill

Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.