Official data revealed on Thursday that more than 32,000 asylum-seekers were living in hotels across Britain by the end of the year 2025, with asylum requests reaching a new high. The housing issue is now a major concern for Keir starmer, the British Prime Minister.

Starmer's Government is under increasing pressure to stop housing asylum seekers in hotel rooms after a council was granted a temporary injunction by a court earlier this week, which meant that all migrants in one particular hotel were required to leave.

The government released figures showing that the number of migrants staying in hotels increased by 8% in the 12 months ending June 30, 2009.

The total of 32,000 is 43% less than the peak figure of 56 042 in September 2023. It's also slightly lower compared to previous quarter figures from March.

Starmer has pledged to stop the use of hotel rooms to house asylum seekers by the time of the next election, in 2029. The most important issue for voters, according to a regular tracker of voter concerns, is immigration.

The data released on Thursday also shows that 111,000 asylum claims will be made in the 12 months to June 2025. This is an increase of 14% over the previous year, and surpasses the previous record of 103,000 in 2002.

Starmer pledged to stop the arrival of thousands of migrants in Britain by small boats. Over 27,000 migrants have arrived this way so far in 2018. (Reporting and editing by Helen Popper, Catarina demony and Sam Tabahriti)

(source: Reuters)