Peter Lamb MP intervenes to bring Home Office use of The George Hotel to an end

Following the intervention of Peter Lamb, Crawley’s Member of Parliament, the Home Office have now confirmed that The George Hotel will no longer be used as asylum accommodation.

The Grade II* Listed building on Crawley’s High Street, currently marketed as Ramada Crawley Gatwick, will see its contract with the Home Office end this December, following a review of the department’s current asylum accommodation estate capacity prompted by inquiries by Crawley’s MP.

The Labour Government inherited an unprecedented backlog of asylum cases, with 224,742 in the system at the end of June 2024 and over 400 asylum hotels in use at a cost of £9 million a day.

In the two years since, a record number of asylum decisions and deportations have been made. The Government has committed to ending the use of asylum hotels by 2029 and the end of use of The George Hotel, combined with other closures scheduled in areas adjacent to Crawley, reflects the Labour Party’s delivery on this commitment.

Peter Lamb, MP for Crawley said:

“Every community has had to play a role in dealing with the huge backlog of cases accrued under the Conservatives.

“Over recent years, Crawley has played a significant role in supporting Ukrainians in our homes—myself included—and paying back the Afghans who worked for the British Government and had our soldiers’ backs through the war.

“We have done our bit, and now that record levels of asylum decisions and deportations have reduced the need for hotel places, I am glad to have been able to secure the first closure of a hotel in Crawley, with more to follow.”