MigrationWatchdog

Asylum accommodation in South East

Asylum support across South East's 61 local authorities, as at 30 Jun 2026.

6,646 asylum seekers were in receipt of Home Office support across South East as at 30 Jun 2026 — 6.9 per 10,000 residents, including 2,157 in contingency hotels.

6,646
asylum seekers supported
as at 30 Jun 2026 · source
6.9
per 10,000 residents (mid-2025)
mid-2025 (one year earlier where the latest estimate is not yet published) · source
3,725
in dispersal accommodation
as at 30 Jun 2026 · source
2,157
in contingency accommodation
as at 30 Jun 2026 · source
2,157
of which in hotels
as at 30 Jun 2026 · source

South East carries 7.1% of the UK's supported asylum caseload — 6.9 per 10,000 residents against its mid-2025 population estimate of 9,691,844. The largest concentration is in Portsmouth (660). All UK authorities →

The last 12 quarters

9.4k030 Sep 202330 Jun 202630 Sep 2023 — 9,37231 Dec 2023 — 7,48231 Mar 2024 — 6,32230 Jun 2024 — 5,90430 Sep 2024 — 6,84631 Dec 2024 — 7,74631 Mar 2025 — 7,28430 Jun 2025 — 6,96930 Sep 2025 — 8,11531 Dec 2025 — 7,46831 Mar 2026 — 6,92730 Jun 2026 — 6,646
People in receipt of Home Office asylum support across South East, quarterly snapshots — sum of the region's local authorities. Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support by local authority, year ending June 2026 (Home Office, Immigration system statistics).

The legal route, regionally

Alongside asylum dispersal, South East's authorities have received 2,420 people through formal resettlement schemes since 2014 — 39 of them in the last four published quarters.

four quarters to 2026 Q2, and cumulative since 2014 · source

Enforcement activity in South East

Immigration Enforcement made 660 illegal-working visits in South East in Jan-26 to Jun-26 (518 in Jan-25 to Jun-25), making 390 arrests. Enforcement activity, not convictions.

to the end of June 2026 · source

What South East petitioned for

99,665 signatures came from South East on the largest immigration or asylum petition of the current record — “Introduce offshore detention/mass deportation for illegal migrants” (720,772 signatures in total, including those recorded outside the UK regions). The wording is the petition creator's, not this site's, and the count measures support for that wording. All petitions →

petitions open or closed as at 2026-09-21 · source

Every authority in South East

Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support, by local authority
PortsmouthEngland6609797545
ReadingEngland523211211304
Milton KeynesEngland443——432
WealdenEngland419———
Windsor and MaidenheadEngland36834734716
MedwayEngland346——334
Mid SussexEngland3263213214
SloughEngland31820120194
SouthamptonEngland3156565218
CrawleyEngland3012902905
Reigate and BansteadEngland2499090158
CanterburyEngland205——204
Brighton and HoveEngland188707082
OxfordEngland18414014030
BuckinghamshireEngland180——161
WokinghamEngland12510010022
CherwellEngland106——99
HastingsEngland99——97
ThanetEngland94474735
ChichesterEngland86626223
Vale of White HorseEngland85——85
DoverEngland83——78
SwaleEngland77——72
RushmoorEngland76474718
GraveshamEngland71——64
SpelthorneEngland70363623
WinchesterEngland67——63
MaidstoneEngland46——29
Folkestone and HytheEngland45——39
West BerkshireEngland43——39
DartfordEngland41——32
EastbourneEngland40——35
AshfordEngland38——35
Surrey HeathEngland3733333
RunnymedeEngland28——26
FarehamEngland24——22
GosportEngland23——23
South OxfordshireEngland23——21
Test ValleyEngland22——21
Basingstoke and DeaneEngland20——20
WorthingEngland19——18
TandridgeEngland16——13
HavantEngland15——14
ElmbridgeEngland13——10
Bracknell ForestEngland12——11
EastleighEngland10——10
Tonbridge and MallingEngland9——9
East HampshireEngland8——8
WokingEngland7——4
New ForestEngland7——7
WaverleyEngland6——3
RotherEngland6——4
West OxfordshireEngland6——3
HorshamEngland4———
SevenoaksEngland4———
ArunEngland3———
Epsom and EwellEngland3———
AdurEngland1———
GuildfordEngland1———
Mole ValleyEngland1———
Tunbridge WellsEngland1———
Counts are people supported at the snapshot date, by the local authority of their registered address; contingency sites open and close between quarters. The table lists only authorities with supported people — authorities with none are omitted by the source, but the population denominator is the published region-level estimate, not a sum of the rows shown. Numbers say where the asylum system places people — they say nothing about any individual.

Data as of

Cite this page

Asylum accommodation in South East. Migration Watchdog, data as of 2026-09-02.
https://migrationwatchdog.com/local/region/south-east
Underlying figures: UK official statistics, re-published under OGL v3.0 — every figure links to its source on the page.

Sources for this page