People in the programme in Bedfordshire as at 30 June 2026. This is a population, counted at a point in time.
Asylum seekers in Bedfordshire
Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office · Corrections log589 people were on asylum support in Bedfordshire
That is the position as at 30 June 2026, counted across the 3 local authorities that make up Bedfordshire. It works out at 7.8 per 10,000 residents. It counts people receiving asylum support at that date, which is not the same as the number waiting for a decision, and not the number of people who passed through support over the year.
Refugees in Bedfordshire: the resettlement routes
People who arrive through a resettlement route are refugees with status, which is a different thing from an asylum seeker waiting for a decision. The two are published as different kinds of figure and are shown separately here for that reason.
Arrivals recorded in Bedfordshire, counted since the scheme opened. This is an arrivals count, not a headcount of who lives here now, and it excludes super sponsor arrivals.
These two figures and the asylum support figure above measure different things, so adding them together would not give a meaningful total.
Local authorities in Bedfordshire, by asylum seekers on support
Click any authority for its full profile. Figures are people on asylum support at30 June 2026.
How many asylum seekers are there in Bedfordshire?
589 people were receiving asylum support in Bedfordshire as at 30 June 2026, across its 3 local authorities. That is 7.8 per 10,000 residents and makes it the 34th highest of 47 English counties on this measure. The figure counts people on support at that date, which is not the same as the number waiting for a decision.
How many refugees are there in Bedfordshire?
Two resettlement routes are published for Bedfordshire: 545 people in the Afghan Resettlement Programme at 30 June 2026, and 1,593 Homes for Ukraine arrivals since the scheme opened. The two should not be added together: the first counts who is there now, the second counts everyone who has ever arrived.
Which part of Bedfordshire has the most asylum seekers?
Luton has the most, with 377 people on asylum support at 30 June 2026, followed by Bedford with 139. The county total is spread unevenly: dispersal is negotiated authority by authority, so neighbouring councils in the same county can carry very different numbers. Every authority in Bedfordshire is listed on this page with its own rate per 10,000.
How this county is defined
Bedfordshire here means the ceremonial county, the one people mean in ordinary speech, so it includes any unitary authority sitting inside its boundary even though that authority runs its own services. The narrower administrative definition counts only two-tier districts, and using it would leave out 24,764 of the 85,162 people on asylum support in England, just over 29 per cent, without saying so.
Three boundaries do not divide cleanly and are handled the same way on every page. Stockton-on-Tees straddles the historic Durham and North Yorkshire boundary and is counted whole within County Durham, because the published figures cannot be split. The Isles of Scilly are grouped with Cornwall. Inner and Outer London are shown together as Greater London.
Every figure on this page is the sum of figures published for the individual local authorities. Nothing is modelled or estimated. Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics, regional and local authority data, released 27 August 2026, covering the position as at 30 June 2026.