Scotland

Midlothian

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office · Corrections log
Kirsty McNeill
Kirsty McNeillLabour (Co-op) · Midlothian
79 people on asylum support in Midlothian

Rank 193 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 7.87 per 10,000 puts Midlothian in the 57th percentile. That means a moderate load compared to the national picture. 2 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. Accommodation and support for 79 people at £107 per person per day is about £3.1M a year.

What asylum costs Midlothian

£1.8Mestimated hotel costs/year
£202Ksubsistence payments/year
£95KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 79 people on asylum support in Midlothian(0.08% of 93,293 nationally at 30 Jun 2026). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend in 2024/25 (House of Commons Library, CDP-2025-0184). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person.

How many asylum seekers are in Midlothian?

79 people were receiving Home Office asylum support in Midlothian at 30 June 2026, the most recent quarter published. That ranks 193rd of 361 UK local authorities. It counts people on support at that date, which is not the number who claimed asylum there and not the number waiting for a decision.

How many asylum seekers per 10,000 people are in Midlothian?

7.87 per 10,000 residents, which places Midlothian in the 57th percentile of UK local authorities. It carries more people on asylum support per head than 57% of the country. Rate is the fair comparison between areas, because a large city carries more people than a small district at the same pressure per head.

Are there asylum hotels in Midlothian?

Not on the published figures. Midlothian recorded nobody in contingency accommodation at 30 June 2026, which is the category that includes hotels. The 79 people on asylum support there are recorded in dispersal housing or on subsistence-only support.

Who houses asylum seekers in Midlothian?

Mears holds the Home Office asylum accommodation contract for the region Midlothian sits in, under the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts. The contract covers a whole region rather than a single council, and the Home Office does not publish a council-by-council split of which properties sit under it.

Are all of them in Home Office accommodation in Midlothian?

No. 2 of the 79 on support in Midlothian, about 3%, receive subsistence only: a cash payment with no accommodation, usually because they are living with friends or family. The rest are in Home Office accommodation, which covers dispersal housing and hotels.

Midlothian: asylum numbers still rising

Quarter-end stock series to Jun 2026. A rise or fall is a net change in the number of people on support at period end, not the number of new claims or distinct people moving through the caseload. Support stock also overlaps with, but is not identical to, the awaiting-decision backlog.

79
7953260Mar 2019Jun 2026Peak Jun 2026Rwanda schemeAlbania deal
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 20191
Jun 20192
Sept 20192
Dec 20192
Mar 20201
Jun 20201
Sept 20201
Dec 20201
Mar 20211
Jun 20212
Sept 20212
Dec 20215
Mar 20222
Jun 20222
Sept 20221
Dec 20221
Mar 20231
Jun 20231
Mar 20255
Jun 20255
Sept 202512
Dec 202524
Mar 202654
Jun 202679

Trend

+25Latest quarter change
+78Change across series
24Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation70
Initial accommodation7
Subsistence only2
Contingency accommodation0

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
79
Homes for Ukraine
130
Afghan programme
44
Resettlement cumulative
32

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine130
Afghan programme44
Resettlement cumulative32

Population context

All pathways total253
Share of local population0.25%