The Refugee Council has devised  a one-off scheme to end the use of hotels by March 2026.

The new system would give permission to remain in the UK for a limited period to those from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan or Syria, and so are certain to either be recognised as refugees or unable to be removed from the UK.

According to the Refugee Council, the government “should build on the steps taken by the previous Conservative Government in 2023, as well as the Labour Government following the 1997 general election.

“A key part of reducing the “legacy backlog” in 2023 under the previous government was the focus on applications from high grant countries. A questionnaire was introduced to gather the information necessary for the Home Office to make a decision without requiring an interview, while still allowing for key security checks to be made.

“Between 1999 and 2000, nearly 30,000 grants of exceptional leave were made as part of the Labour Government’s plan for dealing with the backlog of claims it had inherited following the 1997 general election. This included applicants who claimed before 1 July 1993 being automatically granted indefinite leave to remain or enter the United Kingdom unless there were either public interest grounds reasons not to, or the asylum claim had been made after removal actions had begun.

“As part of resetting the asylum system and ending the use of hotels, the Government should grant leave, subject to security checks, to nationals from Afghanistan, Eritrea,Iran, Sudan and Syria who were in the asylum process as of 30 June 2025.”

As there were 32,917 refugees from these countries in June 2025, the Council estimates that these measures would eliminate the need to use hotels. Some of the money saved could be used to access private sector housing, including rent deposits.

https://www-media.refugeecouncil.org.uk/media/documents/Refugee_Council_-__Briefing_on_exiting_hotels_-_August_2025.pdf