MigrationWatchdog

Bedford

England · East of England — asylum support snapshot, as at 31 Mar 2026.

178
asylum seekers supported
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source
111
in dispersal accommodation
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source
56
in contingency accommodation
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source
56
of which in hotels
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source
11
other or unclassified support
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source

Bedford ranks #151 of 344 UK local authorities with supported asylum seekers, carrying 0.2% of England's supported caseload — 9.6 per 10,000 residents (against the 185,226 usual residents counted in 2021). Compare all authorities →

The last 12 quarters

246030 Jun 202331 Mar 202630 Jun 2023 — 16930 Sep 2023 — 17631 Dec 2023 — 18831 Mar 2024 — 15330 Jun 2024 — 15030 Sep 2024 — 24631 Dec 2024 — 19631 Mar 2025 — 18430 Jun 2025 — 21630 Sep 2025 — 24531 Dec 2025 — 21931 Mar 2026 — 178
People in receipt of Home Office asylum support in Bedford, quarterly snapshots. Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support by local authority, year ending March 2026 (Home Office, Immigration system statistics).

Broadly flat since 30 Jun 2023 (+5%).

Census context (2021)

185,226
usual residents
Census day, 21 March 2021 · source
21.4%
born outside the UK (39,640)
Census day, 21 March 2021 · source
2.7%
cannot speak English well or at all (4,809)
Census day, 21 March 2021 · source

The legal route, locally

Alongside asylum dispersal, Bedford has received 104 people through formal resettlement schemes since 2014 (none in the last four published quarters).

four quarters to 2026 Q1, and cumulative since 2014 · source

Ranked nearby

Support counts are a point-in-time snapshot by registered address; contingency sites open and close between quarters. Census figures are from March 2021 and predate arrivals since. Numbers say where the asylum system places people — they say nothing about any individual.

Data as of

Sources for this page