MigrationWatchdog

South East

Asylum support across South East's 61 local authorities, as at 31 Mar 2026.

6,929
asylum seekers supported
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source
7.1
per 10,000 residents (mid-2025)
mid-2025 (one year earlier where the latest estimate is not yet published) · source
3,686
in dispersal accommodation
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source
2,673
in contingency accommodation
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source
2,607
of which in hotels
as at 31 Mar 2026 · source

South East carries 7.1% of the UK's supported asylum caseload — 7.1 per 10,000 residents against its mid-2025 population estimate of 9,691,844. The largest concentration is in Portsmouth (699). All UK authorities →

The last 12 quarters

9.4k030 Jun 202331 Mar 202630 Jun 2023 — 8,80830 Sep 2023 — 9,37131 Dec 2023 — 7,48831 Mar 2024 — 6,32930 Jun 2024 — 5,91030 Sep 2024 — 6,84631 Dec 2024 — 7,74631 Mar 2025 — 7,28630 Jun 2025 — 6,97230 Sep 2025 — 8,11931 Dec 2025 — 7,47031 Mar 2026 — 6,929
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 March 2026 (Home Office, Immigration system statistics).

The legal route, regionally

Alongside asylum dispersal, South East's authorities have received 2,436 people through formal resettlement schemes since 2014 — 33 of them in the last four published quarters.

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

Every authority in South East

Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support, by local authority
PortsmouthEngland6999797587
ReadingEngland578275209299
Milton KeynesEngland450——434
Mid SussexEngland3663613614
SouthamptonEngland3369494212
MedwayEngland316——305
CrawleyEngland304298298—
Windsor and MaidenheadEngland30227727721
SloughEngland289166166103
Reigate and BansteadEngland288137137150
WealdenEngland265———
OxfordEngland23018518529
CanterburyEngland222——220
BuckinghamshireEngland210——192
WokinghamEngland18816216224
Brighton and HoveEngland179737384
RushmoorEngland111878717
ChichesterEngland110828227
ThanetEngland106616134
AshfordEngland104656537
GraveshamEngland101282871
Vale of White HorseEngland92——92
West OxfordshireEngland8177774
CherwellEngland80——70
SpelthorneEngland78404031
DoverEngland74——68
SwaleEngland72——68
WinchesterEngland70——67
Surrey HeathEngland6864643
HastingsEngland61——57
MaidstoneEngland54——35
West BerkshireEngland46——45
HorshamEngland454444—
EastbourneEngland44——38
Folkestone and HytheEngland38——33
DartfordEngland24——16
South OxfordshireEngland24——21
Basingstoke and DeaneEngland24——24
FarehamEngland23——22
ElmbridgeEngland22——19
GosportEngland21——21
TandridgeEngland17——14
HavantEngland16——15
RunnymedeEngland15——14
WorthingEngland15——14
Test ValleyEngland14——13
Bracknell ForestEngland12——11
East HampshireEngland8——8
WaverleyEngland7——3
Tonbridge and MallingEngland7——6
SevenoaksEngland4———
Epsom and EwellEngland4———
EastleighEngland3——3
ArunEngland3———
LewesEngland2——1
WokingEngland2———
RotherEngland1———
Tunbridge WellsEngland1———
GuildfordEngland1———
Mole ValleyEngland1———
AdurEngland1———
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

Sources for this page