Trend
+1 Latest quarter change
+290 Change across series
48 Official data points
Oldham
Debbie Abrahams
2 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Oldham.
781 people housed on asylum support in Oldham
Rank 30 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 31.05 per 10,000 puts Oldham in the 91st percentile. That means this area carries more asylum seekers per head than 90% of the country. White British projected to be a minority by approximately 2033. 114 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). At roughly £150/person/day, that costs the taxpayer an estimated £43M per year for this area alone.
What asylum costs Oldham
£15.4Mestimated hotel costs/year
£2.0Msubsistence payments/year
£937KLA dispersal grant/year
Estimates based on 781 people on asylum support in Oldham (0.73% of 107,003 nationally). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend (2024/25 average, NAO). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person. Nationally, the hotel bill alone costs £62 per taxpayer per year.
Oldham: asylum numbers still rising
Quarter-end stock series to Dec 2025. 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.
Local numbers
Accommodation split
Dispersal accommodation 640
Initial accommodation 0
Subsistence only 27
Contingency accommodation 114
Pathway breakdown
Other routes
Homes for Ukraine 171
Afghan programme 58
Resettlement cumulative 0
Population context
All pathways total 1,010
Share of local population 0.4%
Ethnic composition projection
Oldham: WBI 65.2% (2021) → 20.2% (2051). White British minority by ~2033. 80% CI: 28.5–31.8%.
Ethnic composition: Oldham
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed 80% CI
Each line shows one ethnic group's share of the local population. The shaded band is the 80% confidence range. Values after 2051 are illustrative only.
Ethnic composition: Oldham
Census 2011, Census 2021, then Hamilton-Perry projections to 2051. Percentages.
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other
Model: Hamilton-Perry single-year CCRs, 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations, SNPP-constrained
Census 2011 to 2021 cohort change ratios. Shaded band = 80% confidence interval from stochastic perturbation. Not a forecast.
Scenario explorer
Under different assumptions, White British share in Oldham ranges from 39.8% to 47.4% by 2051. That is a 7.6pp spread.
Fertility
Low ~108k/yr
Principal ~315k/yr
High ~476k/yr
Constant Rates stay at current levels
Half convergence Move halfway to national avg
Full convergence Converge to national avg
Migration
Central scenario: WBI 42.9% by 2051
Religion projection
Muslim 25.6% (2021) → 35.6% (2051). Christian 47.1% → 10.8%.
Religion: Oldham
Christian No religion Muslim
Religious affiliation projected from Census 2021 self-identification. Trends reflect demographic change in the existing population, not religious conversion.
Nativity
16.6% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: diverse (entropy 0.55). 89.3% main language English.
UK-born vs foreign-born: Oldham
UK-born Foreign-born
Share of the local population born outside the UK. Movement reflects both new arrivals and the UK-born children of existing residents reaching adulthood.
emerging diversity: Low foreign-born share with significant ethnic diversity suggests second/third-generation growth is the primary driver. Less sensitive to immigration policy changes.
Census 2021 mobility: 6% moved within UK, 0.6% arrived from abroad
black 10.1% internal, 4% international
other 9.4% internal, 2.2% international
white other 9.4% internal, 2.1% international
mixed 9% internal, 0.8% international
asian 4.9% internal, 1.2% international
white british 5.9% internal, 0.1% international
Why Oldham is changing
-10.3ppWhite British change 2011–2021. Cyan = decline. Amber = growth.
Dominant driver: national trend. Shift-share methodology following Franklin (2014).
Full demographic profile
School pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics.
View Oldham on UK Demographics →
Economy & housing by ethnicity
Census 2021 employment, homeownership, and qualifications by ethnic group.
Employment rate
White British 56.3%
Mixed 63.7%
White Other 65.3%
Other 48.9%
Homeownership rate
White British 62.3%
Mixed 33.9%
White Other 40%
Other 30.2%
Degree+ qualification rate
White British 24.4%
Mixed 26.4%
White Other 29.6%
Other 22.9%
Source
Census 2021 RM018 (economic activity), RM134 (tenure), RM049 (qualifications) by ethnic group. Observed, not projected.
School ethnicity
DfE School Census 2024/25: 45,756 pupils. 48.1% White British. Schools are 17.1pp more diverse than the general population.
Pupil ethnicity
White British 48.1%
Asian 34.4%
Black 6.6%
Mixed 6.1%
White Other 3.1%
Other 1.7%
What this means
Schools are 17pp more diverse than the general population. Schools show the future.
51.9% Minority pupils now
62.1% Projected 2041
Demographic pipeline
45.7% Primary WBI
50.3% Secondary WBI
Accelerating diversification. Primary schools are significantly more diverse than secondary.
Fertility proxy (10-year school trend): WBI share in primary schools changing at -0.92pp/year. Gradual diversification in school-age population.
Source & validation
DfE School Census 2024/25. State-funded schools. Upper-tier LA level. Validated against Census 2021 ages 4-15: Census WBI 49.5% vs school 48.1% (-1.4pp gap).
Service demand impact
Projected impact of demographic change on local services.
non-English speakers
Interpreter demand is manageable at current levels.
foreign-born growth to 2051
High foreign-born population growth will drive additional housing demand, particularly in the private rented sector.
EAL growth
Significant additional EAL (English as Additional Language) support likely needed.
National benchmarks
Supported asylum count
781 National distribution.
Supported asylum rate
31.05 Per 10,000 residents.
Contingency accommodation
114 Hotel and contingency placements.
Regional peers
Top 5 in North West by supported asylum.