Three companies control every asylum hotel in Britain

The entire asylum accommodation system runs through three companies.

The Home Office Asylum Accommodation and Support Contract (AASC). Awarded 2019. England divided into three regions. One prime provider per region. No competition.

• Serco: North of England (North East, North West, Yorkshire)
• Mears Group: Midlands and East of England
• Clearsprings Ready Homes: South of England, Wales, and London

Scotland and Northern Ireland: separate arrangements.

Each prime provider controls all asylum accommodation in their region. Dispersal housing. Contingency hotels. Initial accommodation centres. Support services. They subcontract to local providers, hotel operators, service companies. The Home Office contract flows exclusively through the prime.

The scale:

107,003 people in asylum support nationally. ~31,000 in hotel accommodation (76% of the budget). ~76,000 in dispersal housing. 197 hotels identified in the system. 10-year contract forecast: £15.3 billion (NAO).

Regional monopoly. No competition for individual placements. A council objects to a hotel in their area. The prime provider proceeds anyway. The Home Office contract overrides local planning.

Councils receive a £1,200 annual grant per dispersed person. The hotel operator receives up to £68,000 per resident per year. Follow the money.

Prime providers subcontract extensively. Home Office to prime to subcontractor to hotel operator. Four links in the chain. Quality failures get attributed to subcontractors. Profits flow to primes.

Source: Home Office AASC contract documentation. NAO asylum accommodation investigation. Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee evidence sessions.