Background
The Home Office is responsible for asylum and protection in the UK, including ensuring compliance with the UK’s legal commitments. It is responsible for providing financial support and accommodation to people seeking asylum.
In December 2022, the then-Prime Minister made a statement to Parliament in which he pledged that the Home Office would abolish the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023 and end the use of hotels to house people seeking asylum. The Government sought to secure alternatives to hotels by renting houses and flats in residential areas, and by developing large sites such as disused military bases.
The Home Office sought to identify and acquire large sites at pace, and in March 2023 it exchanged contracts with the vendors of the Northeye site in Bexhill-on-Sea with the intention of developing accommodation for non-detained asylum seekers. However, it subsequently decided the site was unsuitable for this purpose. The Home Office completed its purchase of the site for £15.2 million in September 2023. No work to develop the site has yet begun.
Scope
This investigation adds further to our March 2024 report Investigation into asylum accommodation. We will set out the facts about the Home Office’s purchase of the Northeye site, including the process followed by the Home Office and to what extent this differed from standard practice.
NAO team
Director: Lee Summerfield
Senior Audit Manager: Andy Whittingham