People in the programme in Greater London as at 31 March 2026. This is a population, counted at a point in time.
Asylum seekers in Greater London
Updated 30 Jun 2026 ยท Home Office 12,140 people were on asylum support in Greater London
That is the position as at 31 March 2026, counted across the 33 local authorities that make up Greater London. It works out at 13.3 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 Greater London: 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 Greater London, 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 Greater London, by asylum seekers on support
1
Hillingdon
1,188 2 Hounslow
1,139 3 Ealing
1,073 4 Croydon
1,008 5 Barnet
878 6 Newham
866 7 Brent
789 8 Southwark
496 9 Tower Hamlets
473 10 Redbridge
413 11 Hackney
373 12 Enfield
353 13 Harrow
343 14 Lambeth
285 15 Barking and Dagenham
271 16 Hammersmith and Fulham
225 17 Lewisham
210 18 Merton
209 19 Havering
186 20 Kensington and Chelsea
180 21 Camden
168 22 Waltham Forest
161 23 Haringey
154 24 Greenwich
153 25 Bromley
144 26 Bexley
115 27 Wandsworth
73 28 Islington
66 29 Kingston upon Thames
62 30 Westminster
42 31 Sutton
28 32 Richmond upon Thames
15 33 City of London
1 Click any authority for its full profile. Figures are people on asylum support at 31 March 2026.
Common questions about Greater London
How many asylum seekers are there in Greater London?
12,140 people were receiving asylum support in Greater London as at 31 March 2026, across its 33 local authorities. That is 13.3 per 10,000 residents and makes it the 1st 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 Greater London?
Two resettlement routes are published for Greater London. 3,962 people were in the Afghan Resettlement Programme as at 31 March 2026, which is a population counted at a point in time. Separately, 34,615 Homes for Ukraine arrivals have been recorded there since the scheme opened, which is a running count of arrivals rather than of who lives there now. The two measure different things and should not be added together.
Which part of Greater London has the most asylum seekers?
Hillingdon has the most, with 1,188 people on asylum support, followed by Hounslow with 1,139. Every authority in the county is listed on this page.
How this county is defined
Greater London 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 21 May 2026, covering the position as at 31 March 2026.