Closed petition: Ensure Home Office needs planning permission for all hotel asylum accommodation

Closed on 17 March 2026

Amend the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 so the Home Office must always seek local planning permission before using any hotels to house asylum seekers, ensuring local councils and communities are consulted.

The Home Office has a duty to house asylum seekers who appear to be destitute. It can repurpose hotels for asylum accommodation if this does not represent a material change of use to a building or land. We think this undermines planning law and public safety. We want Parliament to require that any and all uses of hotels for asylum accommodation is treated as a material change of use needing planning permission and consultation with local councils, so communities have a voice and safety standards are upheld.