City centre hotel to stop housing asylum seekers
BBCAsylum seekers staying at the Royal Hotel in Hull will be moved out by autumn, but doubts remain about the building's long-term use, the leader of the city council has said.
Mike Ross told a meeting that the Home Office had informed him that the process would be completed "by the end of October".
Ross was responding to a question by Reform councillor Salman Anwar, who asked about a letter the council had written to the government in 2025 asking them to stop using the Royal Hotel, on Ferensway, as temporary accommodation.
The hotel has been used to house asylum seekers for more than six years and was attacked during a city centre riot in August 2024.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ross told councillors that the government had been "fairly disappointing".
"However, recently the Home Office has confirmed they will be moving out all of the remaining occupants of the hotel in the coming weeks, with it expected to be completed by the end of October," he said.
Ross added the Home Office "haven't yet committed to a permanent end of the use of the facility".
While the council had no control over the use of the hotel, Ross said the authority would "continue to press the Home Office for answers and solutions on this matter".
Labour leader Daren Hale said he was glad to hear the use of the Royal Hotel to house asylum seekers appeared to be ending.
"If that is the case, we very much want that hotel to be returned to usage as a hotel," he said.
The Labour group has called for the Royal Hotel to be purchased by the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "This government will close all asylum hotels, moving asylum seekers into basic accommodation including ex-military sites.
"The population in asylum hotels has fallen by nearly 20% in the last year and by 45% since the peak under the previous government – helping reduce costs by nearly £1 billion."
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