Background to the report

The previous government sought to reduce the use of hotels to accommodate people who seek asylum by trying to procure accommodation in local areas as well as by setting up large sites such as barges and disused military bases.

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As part of this policy, the Home Office decided to acquire the Northeye site in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex from the vendors, who had previously bought the site in August 2022 for around £6.3 million. The Home Office completed the purchase of the Northeye site in September 2023 for around £15.4 million.

The Home Office anticipated that the site would provide around 1,400 bed spaces through a mix of refurbished and new buildings. No work on the site has yet begun. The site is contaminated and requires remediating.

Scope of the report

This report sets out the process by which the Home Office acquired the Northeye site and the reasons for the site not being operational yet. The NAO undertook this work in response to concerns raised over the suitability of the site for asylum accommodation.

The report adds to the findings from the NAO’s March 2024 report, Investigation into asylum accommodation, which covered the Home Office’s acquisition of other large sites in detail but did not include the Northeye site.

It is a factual report, and does not conclude on the value for money of the acquisition. It sets out:

  • the timeline of events leading to completion of the acquisition, and subsequent events
  • the process to acquire the site followed by the Home Office
  • how this process differs from standard practice

Concluding remarks

The Home Office’s attempt to acquire the Northeye site within just a few months of adopting it onto the non-detained asylum accommodation programme led it to cut corners and make a series of poor decisions. This resulted in it purchasing a site that was unsuitable for that original purpose, and it paying more for it than it needed to.

While the site has been moved to a different programme and may yet fulfil a need the Home Office has, it remains to be seen whether the acquisition of the Northeye site results in benefits that justify its cost.

It is encouraging that the Home Office has taken steps to understand what went wrong, and that it has made changes to improve its in-house property function. But this case exemplifies the need to adhere to minimum standards and not forgo due diligence, especially at times of intense pressure.

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Publication details

Press release

View press release (15 Nov 2024)

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